Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend (Fitzgerald, set by (Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir, Henry Houseley, Liza Lehmann, Elisabeth Charlotta Henrietta Ernestina Sonntag)) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

Translation by Edward Fitzgerald (1809 - 1883)

Ah, make the most of what we yet may...

Language: English after the Persian (Farsi)

Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and -- sans End!

L. Lehmann sets lines 1-2 only

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

by Edward Fitzgerald (1809 - 1883), no title, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, First Edition, no. 23, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Second Edition, no. 26, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Third Edition, no. 24, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Fourth Edition, no. 24, first published 1859 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

a text in Persian (Farsi) by Hakim Omar Khayyám (c1048 - c1122) [text unavailable]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", published 1906 [ soli, chorus, and orchestra ], from Omar Khayyám, Part I, no. 24, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", 1896, lines 1-2 only [ bass ], from In a Persian Garden, no. 11, recitative [sung text checked 1 time]
by Elisabeth Charlotta Henrietta Ernestina Sonntag (1866 - 1950), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", published 1925, first performed 1925 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Vanitas Vanitatum, song-cycle from "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" in the translation of Edward Fitzgerald, no. 6, as Else Headlam-Morley [sung text checked 1 time]

This text (or a part of it) is used in a work

by Henry Houseley (1852? - 1925), "Part 3", published 1917 [ soli, chorus, orchestra ], from cantata Omar Khayyám, no. 3, New York : H. W. Gray

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Spanish (Español), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Luis Sandi.

Researcher for this text: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-13
Line count: 4
Word count: 34