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by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)

I heard 'mid oak‑trees olden
Language: English 
I heard ‘mid oak trees olden
Blackbirds unbeholden
Rain, in gushes golden,
Rapture from above.
I saw them spread their wooing,
Flying and pursuing,
Fluttering, billing, cooing,
Through the rustling grove.
And then my song I started,
How we two were parted,
We so constant hearted
To our early love.

But as I made my murmur,
Thoughts of thee, my charmer,
Made my faith grow firmer,
Till I thus could sing;
“These giddy blackbirds pairing,
April’s balmy air in,
Meet again uncaring,
With return of spring;
When we at last, delighted,
Prove the love we’ve plighted,
Until death united
By the marriage ring.”

Text Authorship:

  • by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931) [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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "I heard 'mid oak-trees olden", published [1882?] [voice and piano], from the collection Songs of Old Ireland. A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies Unknown in England, no. 36, arrangement ; London, Boosey & Co. ; dedicated to Johannes Brahms, August 1882 [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson

This text was added to the website: 2015-04-08
Line count: 24
Word count: 103

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