Sing, Ballad-singer, raise a hearty tune;
Make me forget that there was ever a one
I walked with in the meek light of the moon
   When the day's work was done.

Rhyme, Ballad-rhymer, start a country song;
Make me forget that she whom I loved well
Swore she would love me dearly, love me long,
   Then - what I cannot tell!

Sing, Ballad-singer, from your little book;
Make me forget those heart-breaks, achings, fears;
Make me forget her name, her sweet sweet look -
   Make me forget her tears.

First published in Cornhill Magazine, April 1902, revised 1909

Text Authorship:

• by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Ballad-Singer", appears in Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses, in At Casterbridge Fair, no. 1 [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 Arnold Atkinson Cooke (1906 - 2005), "The Ballad-singer" [ baritone and piano ], from Country Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andrew Downes (1950 - 2023), "The Ballad Singer", op. 1 no. 1 (1973), from Casterbridge Fair, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Goossen (b. 1927), "The Ballad-Singer" [ duet for mezzo-soprano and baritone with piano ], from At Casterbridge Fair, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfred Matthew Hale (1875 - 1960), "The Ballad-Singer", op. 27 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], from At Casterbridge Fair, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "The Ballad Singer", 2006 [ baritone and piano ], from Julie Jane -- 5 songs for Baritone and Piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lori Laitman (b. 1955), "The Ballad Singer", 1995 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Donald Waxman (b. 1925), "The ballad singer", published 1960 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Eight songs : for a cappella chorus from poems of Thomas Hardy, no. 6 [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: 12
Word count: 87