by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
The world's great age begins anew
Language: English
The world's great age begins anew, The golden years return, The earth doth like a snake renew Her winter weeds outworn: Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam, Like wrecks of a dissolving dream. A brighter Hellas rears its mountains From waves serener far; A new Peneus rolls his fountains Against the morning star. Where fairer Tempes bloom, there sleep Young Cyclads on a sunnier deep. Another Athens shall arise, And to remoter time Bequeath, like sunset to the skies, The splendour of its prime; And leave, if nought so bright may live, All earth can take or Heaven can give. Oh, cease! must hate and death return? Cease! must men kill and die? Cease! drain not to its dregs the urn Of bitter prophecy. The world is weary of the past, Oh, might it die or rest at last!
I. Gurney sets stanzas 1-3
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Authorship:
- by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "The world's great age begins anew", appears in Hellas [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 Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "The world's great age", c1925, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "A song of the new age" [ unison chorus and orchestra (or piano) ], from Six choral songs to be sung in time of war, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail
This text was added to the website: 2005-12-31
Line count: 24
Word count: 140