Bredon Hill | In summertime on Bredon

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)

In summertime on Bredon

Language: English

In summertime on Bredon
The bells they sound so clear;
Round both the shires they ring them
In steeples far and near,
A happy noise to hear.

Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie,
And see the coloured counties,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky.

The bells would ring to call her 
In valleys miles away;
"Come all to church, good people;
Good people come and pray."
But here my love would stay.

And I would turn and answer
Among the springing thyme,
"Oh, peal upon our wedding,
And we will hear the chime,
And come to church in time."

But when the snows at Christmas
On Bredon top were strown,
My love rose up so early
And stole out unbeknown
And went to church alone.

They tolled the one bell only,
Groom there was none to see,
The mourners followed after,
And so to church went she,
And would not wait for me.

The bells they sound on Bredon,
And still the steeples hum,
"Come all to church, good people." -
O noisy bells, be dumb;
I hear you, I will come.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: "Bredon" is pronounced /breedon/

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), "Bredon Hill", appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 21, first published 1896 [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 Geoffrey Allen (b. 1927), "Bredon Hill", op. 10 no. 8 (1995) [ tenor and piano ], from Bredon Hill : eight songs for tenor voice and piano to poems of A. E. Housman, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Bredon Hill", 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885 - 1916), "Bredon Hill", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Bredon Hill and other songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Bredon Hill", 1981 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Alan Gray (1855 - 1935), "Bredon Hill", published 1936 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Janet Hamilton , "In summertime on Bredon", published 1919 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (1885 - 1963), "Bredon Hill", published 1942 [ violin and orchestra or piano ], rhapsody [sung text not yet checked]
by Reginald T. Johnson (b. 1941), "In summertime on Bredon", published 1939 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "In summertime on Bredon", alternate title: "Bredon Hill", published 1911 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Bredon Hill", op. 134 (1947), published 1971 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Bredon Hill", op. 568 (1960) [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "In summertime on Bredon", published 1931 [ men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "In summertime on Bredon", 1904, published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Freda Mary Swain (1902 - 1985), "Bredon Hill" [sung text not yet checked]
by Douglas J. Twigg , "Bredon Hill", published 1936 [ satb chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Bredon Hill", 1908-9, published 1911, rev. 1946 [ tenor, piano, and string quartet ad libitum ], from On Wenlock Edge, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by S. (Samuel?) Ward-Casey , "Bredon Hill", published 1936 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "In summertime on Bredon" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Dalhousie James Young (1866 - 1921), "Bredon Hill", published 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 191