by William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903)
We'll to the woods, and gather May
Language: English
We'll to the woods, and gather May Fresh from the footprints of the rain; We'll to the woods at ev'ry vein To drink the spirit of the day. The winds of spring are out at play, The needs of spring in heart and brain. We'll to the woods, and gather May Fresh from the footprints of the rain; The world's too near her end, you say? Hark to the blackbird's mad refrain! It waits for her, the vast Inane? Then, girls, to help her on her way, We'll to the woods and gather May.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903), no title, appears in A Book of Verses, first published 1888 [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 H. Grant Fletcher (b. 1913), "We'll to the Woods" [ ssa chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "We'll to the woods and gather May", op. 3 (Tone-Images) no. 3, A. 33 (1912), published 1915 [ voice and piano ] [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: 13
Word count: 94