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!"
About the headline (FAQ)
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
Süß Emmchen Moreland traf mich jüngst Dort auf dem Pfad am blauen See, Und fragte mich: "Hast Du Dein Herz verschenkt? Sprich, bist Du Bräutigam, Edward Gray?" Süß Emmchen Moreland sprach's zu mir, Da mußt' ich weinen vor bitterm Weh. -- Süß Emmchen Moreland, Liebe rührt Nie mehr das Herz von Edward Gray! Ellen Adair, sie liebte mich treu, Trotz ihrer Eltern strengem Wort; Heut saß' ich lange an Ellen's Grab, Am stillen, moosigen Hügel dort. Sie war nur scheu und ich glaubte sie kalt, Und floh gekränkt weit über das Meer. Und während ich streifte in blindem Wahn, Da starb vor Kummer Ellen Adair. O grausam war ich, und grausam klang's Mir heute zurück von des Hügels Höh' -- Fahr' hin, so sprach ich, Du bist nicht werth Das Herz zu quälen von Edward Gray. Und ich barg mein Antlitz im tiefen Gras Und weinte lang und weinte schwer: "Ich bereue Alles, was ich gethan, O sprich ein Wort nur, Ellen Adair!" Und ich nahm einen Stift und schrieb auf's Kreuz Dort in der Weide schattiger Näh': "Hier liegt die Asche von Ellen Adair, Hier liegt das Herz von Edward Gray." Und Liebe mag kommen und Liebe mag gehn, Mir ist nun Erde und Himmel leer; Mein Glück ist zerstoben, mein Lenz verblüht: Sie kehrt nicht wieder, Ellen Adair! Am moosigen Hügel weint' ich laut, Und eilte von dannen in wildem Weh. Dort liegt die Asche von Ellen Adair, Dort liegt das Herz von Edward Gray!
Confirmed with Der Salon für Literatur, Kunst und Gesellschaft, erster Band, ed. by Franz Hirsch, Leipzig: A. H. Payne, 1876, page 523.
Confirmed with Ernst Eckstein, In Moll und Dur, Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, 1877, pages 131-133.
Text Authorship:
- by Ernst Eckstein (1845 - 1900), "Edward Gray", appears in In Moll und Dur, in 3. Dritte Abtheilung [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), "Edward Gray", appears in Poems, Volume II, first published 1842
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Edward Gray", op. 11 (Balladen und Romanzen für mittlere Stimme) no. 2 (1885/86), published 1886 [ medium voice and piano ], Braunschweig, Litolff [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Edward Gray", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2022-02-26
Line count: 36
Word count: 245