by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Sweet Emma Moreland of yonder town
Language: English
Sweet Emma Moreland of yonder town Met me walking on yonder way, "And have you lost your heart?" she said; "And are you married yet, Edward Gray?" Sweet Emma Moreland spoke to me: Bitterly weeping I turned away: "Sweet Emma Moreland, love no more Can touch the heart of Edward Gray. "Ellen Adair, she loved me well, Against her father's and mother's will: Today I sat for an hour and wept, By Ellen's grave, on the windy hill. Shy she was, and I thought her cold; Thought her proud, and fled over the sea; Fill'd I was with folly and spite, When Ellen Adair was dying for me. "Cruel, cruel the words I said! Cruelly came they back today: 'You're too slight and fickle,' I said, 'To trouble the heart of Edward Gray.' There I put my face in the grass Whisper'd, 'Listen to my despair: I repent me of all I did: Speak a little, speak a little, Ellen Adair!' "Then I took a pencil and wrote On the mossy stone as I lay, 'Here lies the body of Ellen Adair; And here the heart of Edward Gray!' Love may come and love may go, And fly, like a bird, from tree to tree: But I will love no more, no more, Till Ellen Adair come back to me. "Bitterly wept I over the stone: Bitterly weeping I turned away: There lies the body of Ellen Adair; And there the heart of Edward Gray!"
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Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), "Edward Gray", appears in Poems, Volume II, first published 1842 [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 Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "Edward Gray", published 1853 [ voice and piano ], from Poems and Songs by Alfred Tennyson, London: Cramer, Beale & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Alexander MacFarren (1813 - 1887), "Ellen Adair", published 1852 [ voice and piano ], London: Addison & Hollier; note: the sung text begins with stanza 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Stanley Oakeley (1830 - 1903), "Edward Gray", op. 12 no. 2, published <<1876 [ tenor or baritone and piano ], London: Cock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Sullivan, Sir (1842 - 1900), "Edward Gray", published 1880 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ernst Eckstein (1845 - 1900) , "Edward Gray", appears in In Moll und Dur, in 3. Dritte Abtheilung ; composed by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-27
Line count: 37
Word count: 245