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by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Translation © by Pauline Kroger
Fair daffodils, we weep to see
Language: English
Fair daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon; As yet the early-rising sun Has not attain'd his noon. Stay, stay Until the hasting day Has run But to [the]1 evensong, And, having pray'd together, we Will go with you along. We have short time to stay, as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay, As you, or anything. We die, As your hours [do,]2 and dry Away, Like to the summer's rain, Or as the pearls of morning's dew, Ne'er to be found again.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Darke.
2 omitted by Farrar.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To daffodils" [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 Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "To daffodils", 1900 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Fair daffodils", 1905, published 1919 [ voice and piano ], revised in 1919 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "To daffodils", 1950, from Five Flower Songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Harold Edwin Darke (1888 - 1977), "To daffodils" [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "To daffodils", 1915, published 1919, first performed 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Lyrics, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "To daffodils" [ voice and piano ], from Dedications: 5 Poems by Robert Herrick, no. 1, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest Bristow Farrar (1885 - 1918), "To daffodils" [ satb chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Fair daffodils", op. 9 (1951) [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 - 1984), "To daffodils" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Derek Holman (b. 1931), "Fair daffodils", 2009, first performed 2009 [ voice and piano ], from The Four Seasons, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "To daffodils", R. 54 no. 7 (1930?), published 1933 [ chorus ], from Songs of Springtime, no. 7, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ann Sheppard Mounsey (1811 - 1891), as Ann Sheppard Bartholomew, "Faire Daffodils", 1835 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Samuel J. Newns (1886 - 1965), "Fair daffodils", published 1944 [ SSA chorus ], from Six Part Songs for SSC, no. 4, Lovedale Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "To daffodils" [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "To daffodils", published 1904 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Two Partsongs, no. 1, London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Rawsthorne (1905 - 1971), "To daffodils" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "To Daffodils", op. 224 (1949) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "To Daffodils", op. 487 (1957) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Uwe Strübing (b. 1956), "To daffodils", op. 81 no. 1 (2005-6) [ soprano and piano ], from Vier englische Lieder für Sopran und Klavier, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Sullivan, Sir (1842 - 1900), "Fair Daffodils", 1857, published 1904 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "To Daffodils", 1895 [ voice and piano ], two versions [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "To daffodils", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], London, Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Chee Yean Wong (b. 1979), "To Daffodils" [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mabel Nightingale Woodward (1876 - 1911), "Daffadils", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Songs, no. 10, Birmingham : Press of the Birmingham Printers; note: [sic] for the title [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pauline Kroger) , "Aan de narcissen", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Narsisseille", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "An Narzissen", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 94
Aan de narcissen
Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the English
Schone narcissen, wij wenen als wij zien dat jullie verdwijnen met zoveel spoed: Vooralsnog is de vroeg rijzende zon nog niet op het punt van hoogste gloed Blijf, blijf, totdat de voortsnellende dag de gerend is tot de vespertijd en als we samen gebeden hebben gaan we mee met jullie in verbondenheid. Ons verblijf hier is maar kort Net zo kort is ons voorjaar Van onze groei tot ons verval Als die van jullie daar Wij sterven en wij drogen uit Zoals een kort zomerbuitje vlug Of als de parels van morgendauw Die vind je niet meer terug!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Dutch (Nederlands) copyright © 2009 by Pauline Kroger, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To daffodils"
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-16
Line count: 20
Word count: 98