'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the...
Language: English
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'tis the gift to come down where [you]1 ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• G. Crumb About the headline (FAQ)
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1 Crumb: "we"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "Simple gifts", 1950, first performed 1950 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Old American Songs, First Set, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by George Crumb (1929 - 2022), "'Tis the Gift to be Simple", 2006 [ male voice, female voice, amplified piano, and percussion ], from Voices from a Forgotten World: American Songbook V, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Yen-Chiang Che) , "簡樸之恩賜", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 114
簡樸之恩賜
Language: Chinese (中文) after the English
簡樸是恩賜，自由是恩賜
腳踏實地成為你自己也是恩賜
一旦我們身處在自己應得的地位時
將有如置身於愛與喜悅的山谷之中。
當我們獲得真實的簡樸時
不論鞠躬或屈膝，都不至羞愧
這樣的轉變，將成為我們的喜樂
直到我們轉變成為合宜的樣式。
簡樸是恩賜，自由是恩賜
腳踏實地成為你自己也是恩賜
一旦我們身處在自己應得的地位時
將有如置身於愛與喜悅的山谷之中。
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2009-05-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 12