by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
The colour
Language: English
"What shall I bring you? Please will white do Best for your wearing The long day through?" " - White is for weddings, Weddings, weddings, White is for weddings, And that won't do. - " "What shall I bring you? Please will red do Best for your wearing The long day through?" " - Red is for soldiers, Soldiers, soldiers, Red is for soldiers And that won't do. - " "What shall I bring you? Please will blue do Best for your wearing The long day through?" " - Blue is for sailors, Sailors, sailors, Blue is for sailors, And that won't do. - " "What shall I bring you? Please will green do Best for your wearing The long day through?" " - Green is for mayings, Mayings, mayings, Green is for mayings, And that won't do. - " "What shall I bring you Then? Will black do Best for your wearing The long day through?" " - Black is for mourning, Mourning, mourning, Black is for mourning, And black will do. - "
Note with poem: "partly original, partly remembered"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The colour", appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922 [author's text not yet checked 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 Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "The colour" [ duet for soprano and baritone with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christopher Kaye Le Fleming (b. 1908), "The colour", op. 5 no. ?, published c1933 [ soprano, alto, unison chorus, 2-part chorus, piano, and strings ], from The Echoing Green , London : J. W. Chester (Marks) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robin Humphrey Milford (1903 - 1959), "The colour", published 1939 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Four Hardy Songs [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mary Sheldon , "The colour", published 1924 [ voice, piano ] [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: 40
Word count: 165