by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
It is no gift I tender
Language: English
It is no gift I tender,
A loan is all I can;
But do not scorn the leader;
Man gets no more from man.
Oh, mortal man may borrow
What mortal man can lend,
And 'twill not end tomorrow
Though sure enough 'twill end.
If death and time are stronger
A love may yet be strong;
The world will last for longer
But this will last for long.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in Additional Poems, no. 4, first published 1939 [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 John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "It is no gift I tender" [baritone and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-03-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 68