by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Fair daffodils, we weep to see
Language: English
Fair daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon; As yet the early-rising sun Has not attain'd his noon. Stay, stay Until the hasting day Has run But to [the]1 evensong, And, having pray'd together, we Will go with you along. We have short time to stay, as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay, As you, or anything. We die, As your hours [do,]2 and dry Away, Like to the summer's rain, Or as the pearls of morning's dew, Ne'er to be found again.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Darke.
2 omitted by Farrar.
Authorship
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To daffodils" [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 Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Fair daffodils" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "To daffodils", 1950, from Five Flower Songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Harold Edwin Darke (1888 - 1977), "To daffodils" [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "To daffodils", 1915-6, published 1919 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Lyrics, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "To daffodils" [ voice and piano ], from Dedications: 5 Poems by Robert Herrick, no. 1, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest Bristow Farrar (1885 - 1918), "To daffodils" [ satb chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Fair daffodils", op. 9 (1951) [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 - 1984), "To daffodils" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Derek Holman (b. 1931), "Fair daffodils", 2009, first performed 2009 [ voice and piano ], from The Four Seasons, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "To daffodils", R. 54 no. 7 (1930?), published 1933 [ chorus ], from Songs of Springtime, no. 7, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Samuel J. Newns (1886 - 1965), "Fair daffodils", published 1944 [ SSA chorus ], from Six Part Songs for SSC, no. 4, Lovedale Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "To daffodils" [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "To daffodils", published 1904 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Two Partsongs, no. 1, London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Uwe Strübing (b. 1956), "To daffodils", op. 81 no. 1 (2005-6) [ soprano and piano ], from Vier englische Lieder für Sopran und Klavier, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Sullivan, Sir (1842 - 1900), "Fair Daffodils", 1857, published 1904 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "To daffodils", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], London, Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Chee Yean Wong (b. 1979), "To Daffodils" [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pauline Kroger) , "Aan de narcissen", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Narsisseille", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "An Narzissen", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 94