The street sounds to the soldiers' tread | The street sounds to the soldiers' tread

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)

The street sounds to the soldiers' tread

Language: English

The street sounds to the soldiers' tread,
And out we troop to see:
A single redcoat turns his head,
He turns and looks at me.

My man, from sky to sky's so far,
We never crossed before;
Such leagues apart the world's ends are,
We're like to meet no more.

What thoughts at heart have you and I
We cannot stop to tell;
But dead or living, drunk or dry,
Soldier, I wish you well.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 22, 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 Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", op. 14 no. 3b (1940), published 1983 [ high voice and piano ], from Five Housman Songs, op. 14 no. 3, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960), "The street", 1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Edward Toner Cone (b. 1917), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread" [ bass-baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Crerar , "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", 1956 [ high voice and piano ], from Housman Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882 - 1950), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", published <<1944 [ voice and piano ], from Five "Shropshire Lad" Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "The encounter", published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from The Land of Lost Content, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Constant Lambert (1905 - 1951), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "Soldier, I wish you well", alternate title: "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", published 1911 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Humphrey Searle (1915 - 1982), "March Past" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread", 1904, published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "The street sounds to the soldiers' tread" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 75