by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)
Colleen Oge Asthore
Language: English
When I marched away to war, How you kissed me o'er and o'er: Weeping, pressed me; Sobbing, blessed me; Colleen, colleen oge asthore. I was wounded, wounded sore, Dead, your father falsely swore; Mad to harry You to marry One with miser-gold in store. Ah! but when you dreamed me dead, Forth you flew a wildered maid: Ever grieving, Ever weaving Willow, willow for your head. "Nay, he lives," your mother said, But you only shook your head; "Why deceive me? Ah! believe me, Mother, mother, he is dead." So you pined and pined away, Till, when in the winter grey Home I hasted, Wan and wasted, Colleen, colleen oge, you lay. "Tis his lonesome ghost," you said, "Come to call me to the dead;" "Nay, discover Your dear lover Longing now at last to wed." Then your cheek, so pale before, With the rose of hope once more, Faintly, slowly, Brightly, wholly, Blossomed, colleen oge asthore. Till upon the chapel floor, Side by side, we knelt and swore, Duty dearest, Love sincerest, Colleen, colleen oge asthore.
Authorship:
- by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931), "Colleen Oge Asthore", appears in Irish Songs and Ballads, in Songs and Ballads [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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Colleen Oge Asthore", published [1882?] [voice and piano], from the collection Songs of Old Ireland. A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies Unknown in England, no. 8, arrangement ; London, Boosey & Co. ; dedicated to Johannes Brahms, August 1882 [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-11
Line count: 40
Word count: 177