by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)
Come to me, O ye children!
Language: English
Come to me, O ye children! For I hear you at your play, And the questions that perplexed me Have vanished quite away. Ye open the eastern windows, That look towards the sun, Where thoughts are singing swallows And the brooks of morning run. In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine, In your thoughts the brooklet`s flow, But in mine is the wind of Autumn And the first fall of the snow. Ah! what would the world be to us If the children were no more? We should dread the desert behind us Worse than the dark before. What the leaves are to the forest, With light and air for food, Ere their sweet and tender juices Have been hardened into wood, - That to the world are children; Through them it feels the glow Of a brighter and sunnier climate Than reaches the trunks below. Come to me, O ye children! And whisper in my ear What the birds and the winds are singing In your sunny atmosphere. For what are all our contrivings, And the wisdom of our books, When compared with your caresses, And the gladness of your looks? Ye are better than all the ballads That ever were sung or said; For ye are living poems, And all the rest are dead.
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Text Authorship:
- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "Children", appears in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, first published 1858 [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 Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "Come to Me O Ye Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edgar Leslie Bainton (1880 - 1956), "To the Children", published 1923 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Baker (1768 - 1847), "Children", published 1878 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Batten , "Living Poems", published 1905 [ voice, piano, organ ad libitum ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Cecil , "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Coes Chase , "Come to Me, O Ye Children", published 1900 [ SATB chorus, piano ad libitum ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Richardson Dempster (1809 - 1871), "Children", published 1859 [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. M. Driver , "Longfellow's Work Song", published 1886 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Liptrot Hatton (1809 - 1886), "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Matthew Kingston , "Come to Me, O Ye Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Linley (1798 - 1865), "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clara Angela Macirone (1821 - 1915?), "Come to Me Oh Ye Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Charles Maker , "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Isidora Martinez (flourished 1886-1915), "Living Poems", published 1912 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Matthews , "Come to Me, O Ye Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Walter Maynard (1828 - 1894), "Children", published 186-? [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Mountfort , "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Edward Newell , "The Eastern Window" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis (Frank) Romer (1810 - 1889), "Children" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Selle , "Come to Me, O Ye Children", published 1862 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Sullivan, Sir (1842 - 1900), "Living Poems", published >>1864 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Helena Watkis , "Children's Voices" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dorothy J. Whyte , "Living Poems", published 1922 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Miguel Antonio Caro) , "Los niños", appears in Traducciones poéticas, Bogotá, Librería Americana, calle XIV, n. 77, 79, first published 1889
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-03-17
Line count: 36
Word count: 218