by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)
I heard 'mid oak‑trees olden
Language: English
I heard ‘mid oak trees olden Blackbirds unbeholden Rain, in gushes golden, Rapture from above. I saw them spread their wooing, Flying and pursuing, Fluttering, billing, cooing, Through the rustling grove. And then my song I started, How we two were parted, We so constant hearted To our early love. But as I made my murmur, Thoughts of thee, my charmer, Made my faith grow firmer, Till I thus could sing; “These giddy blackbirds pairing, April’s balmy air in, Meet again uncaring, With return of spring; When we at last, delighted, Prove the love we’ve plighted, Until death united By the marriage ring.”
Authorship:
- by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931) [author's text not yet checked 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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "I heard 'mid oak-trees olden", published [1882?] [voice and piano], from the collection Songs of Old Ireland. A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies Unknown in England, no. 36, arrangement ; London, Boosey & Co. ; dedicated to Johannes Brahms, August 1882 [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2015-04-08
Line count: 24
Word count: 103