by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
When I watch the living meet
Language: English
When I watch the living meet, And the moving pageant file Warm and breathing through the street Where I lodge a little while, If the heats of hate and lust In the house of flesh are strong, Let me mind the house of dust Where my sojourn shall be long. In the nation that is not Nothing stands that stood before; There revenges are forgot, And the hater hates no more; Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.
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Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 12, 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 Vernon Duke (1903 - 1969), "When I watch the living meet", published 1955 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Songs from "A Shropshire Lad" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "When I watch the living meet", 1930, published 1934 [ baritone and piano ], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "When I watch the living meet" [ 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: 16
Word count: 94