by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
When the lad for longing sighs
Language: English
When the lad for longing sighs, Mute and dull of cheer and pale, If at death's own door he lies, Maiden, you can heal his ail. Lovers' ills are all to buy: The wan look, the hollow tone, The hung head, the sunken eye, You can have them for your own. Buy them, buy them: eve and morn Lovers' ills are all to sell, Then you can lie down forlorn; But the lover will be well.
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Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 6, first published 1896 [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 Robert F. Baksa (b. 1938), "When the lad for longing sighs", published 1967 [ medium voice and piano ], from Housman Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885 - 1916), "When the lad for longing sighs", published 1912 [ medium voice and piano ], from Bredon Hill and other songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Leichtling , "When the lad for longing sighs", published 1971 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Eleven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "When the lad for longing sighs", 1922, published 1923 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "When the lad for longing sighs", published 1911 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of a Shropshire Lad, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "When the lad for longing sighs" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 76