O Swallow, Swallow, flying, flying South,
Fly to her, and fall upon her gilded eaves,
And tell her, tell her, what I tell to thee.

O tell her, Swallow, thou that knowest each,
That bright and fierce and fickle is the South,
And dark and true and tender is the North.

O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light
Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill,
And cheep and twitter twenty million loves.

O were I thou that she might take me in,
And lay me on her bosom, and her heart
Would rock the snowy cradle till I died.

Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love,
Delaying as the tender ash delays
To clothe herself, when all the woods are green?

O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown:
Say to her, I do but wanton in the South,
But in the North long since my nest is made.

O tell her, brief is life but love is long,
And brief the sun of summer in the North,
And brief the [moon]1 of beauty in the South.

O Swallow, flying from the golden woods,
Fly to her, [and pipe]2 and woo her, and make her mine,
And tell her, tell her, that I follow thee.

D. Arditti sets stanzas 1-2, 7-8
A. Foote sets stanzas 1-2, 7-8

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Arditti and Foote: "noon" ?
² omitted by Arditti and Foote.

Text Authorship:

• by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Princess, first published 1850 [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 David Arditti (b. 1964), "O swallow, swallow", op. 3 no. 2, stanzas 1-2,7-8 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Harold Clark , "To a swallow", published 1963 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jonathan Dove (b. 1959), "O Swallow, Swallow", 2011 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Three Tennyson Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Foote (1853 - 1937), "O swallow, swallow, flying south", published 1896, stanzas 1-2,7-8 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "O swallow, swallow", op. 20a no. 4, H. 80 no. 4 [ chorus ], from Songs from The Princess, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "O Swallow, Swallow", published 1891 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Moritz Hetzel.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 211