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by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers...
Language: English 
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today; 
And give us not to think so far away 
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here 
All simply in the springing of the year. 

Oh, gives us pleasure in the orchard white, 
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; 
And make us happy in the happy bees, 
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. 

And make us happing in the darting bird 
That suddenly above the bees is heard, 
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, 
And off a blossom in mid-air stands still. 

For this is love and nothing else is love, 
The which it is reversed for God above 
To sanctify to what far ends He will, 
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

About the headline (FAQ)

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "A prayer in spring", appears in A Boy's Will, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Thomas Canning (1911 - 1989), "O give us pleasure in the flowers today" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Frederick McKay (1899 - 1970), "A prayer in spring", published 1950 [ soprano and ssaattbb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Cyril V. Taylor (b. 1907), "O give us pleasure in the flowers today" [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 128

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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