by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

The walk
Language: English 
You did not walk with me
Of late to the hill-top tree
  By the gated ways,
  As in earlier days;
  You were weak and lame,
  So you never came,
  And I went alone, and I did not mind,
Not thinking of you as left behind.

I walked up there to-day
Just in the former way;
  Surveyed around
  The familiar ground
  By myself again:
  What difference, then?
  Only that underlying sense
Of the look of a room on returning thence.

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 Andrew Downes (1950 - 2023), "The walk", op. 15 no. 1, published 1977 [ soprano, flute or tenor recorder, harpsichord, and cello ], from Lost Love, no. 1, West Midlands, England : Lynwood Music Photo Editions [sung text checked 1 time]

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: 79