by Seumas O'Sullivan (1879 - 1958)
A Cottager
Language: English
The rafters blacken year by year, And the roof beams under that once were green. T'was himself that cut them and brought them here, But who has count of the years between? And Autumn comes, and its withering, And Spring again and the fields are green. Winter and Summer and Autumn and Spring, Yet who has count of the years between? The big old clock by the window screen Keeps count of the hours both day and night. I mind the time when its face was white, But who has count of the years between?
Text Authorship:
- by Seumas O'Sullivan (1879 - 1958), "A cottager", appears in The Earth-Lover and Other Poems, first published 1909 [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 Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "A Cottager", R. 85 no. 3 (1944), published 1946 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Six Poems by Seumas O'Sullivan, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "A Cottager", op. 173 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-06-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 95