by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
It nods and curtseys and recovers
Language: English
It nods and curtseys and recovers When the wind blows above, The nettle on the graves of lovers That hanged themselves for love. The nettle nods, the wind blows over, The man, he does not move, The lover of the grave, the lover That hanged himself for love.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 16, 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 Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882 - 1950), "It nods and curtseys and recovers", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ], from Nine "Shropshire Lad" Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robin Field (b. 1935), "The nettle", 1960 [ medium voice and piano ], from When I was one and twenty [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "It nods and curtseys and recovers" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Nettle", op. 112 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Searle (1915 - 1982), "The stinging nettle" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "It nods and curtseys" [ 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: 8
Word count: 48