by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
Proud songsters
Language: English
Our translations: FRE
The thrushes sing as the sun is going, And the finches whistle in ones and pairs, And as it gets dark loud nightingales In bushes Pipe, as they can when April wears, As if all Time were theirs. These are brand-new birds of twelve-months' growing, Which a year ago, or less than twain, No finches were, nor nightingales, Nor thrushes, But only particles of grain, And earth, and air, and rain.
First published in Daily Telegraph, April 1928
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "Proud songsters" [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Proud songsters", op. 52 no. 6 (1953), published 1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Winter words, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Proud songsters", op. 15 no. 10, published 1936 [ baritone, piano ], from Earth and Air and Rain, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Proud songsters" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "Fiers chanteurs", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 71