by Alfred Owen Williams (1877 - 1930)
Song of the stream
Language: English
Flow on! Happy stream To the shining river; We are as a dream Thou wilt glide for ever; Where the white stones gleam And the pale leaves quiver, Flow! Thou happy stream To the shining river Past the dewy mead, By the drooping willow, Hurry o'er thy bed To the restless billow; Where the seabirds ride And the dark waves sorrow, Swinging with the tide May'st thou be tomorrow! O'er the yellow sand, O'er the smooth-faced pebble, Forward to the strand, With thy tireless ripple; Ere the sunbeams fade, Ere the cold winds shiver, Hasten through the glade, Hasten, hasten to the river. Lonely is the wood, Lonely is the hollow, Spacious is the flood, Thither we must follow; Soon our lives are sped Like the mountain heather, Throng we to our bed With the leaves that wither. Flow on! happy stream To the shining river; We have dreamed our dream, Thou wilt glide forever; Where the white stones gleam, And the pale leaves quiver, Flow! thou happy stream, Flow! flow! and reach the river.
Authorship:
- by Alfred Owen Williams (1877 - 1930) [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 Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Song of the stream", op. 25 (Six songs) no. 1 (1921), published 1922 [ voice and piano ], Winthrop Rogers [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2012-12-06
Line count: 40
Word count: 175