Song Cycle by Richard Jackson Cumming (1928-)

1. The Feast of Crispian

Authorship

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3

This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors,
And say, "Tomorrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say,  "These wounds I had on Crispian's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember what feats he did that day.
This story shall the good man teach his son:
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
But we in it shall be remember'd.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile.
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day.

2. To whom can i speak today?

Authorship

by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , Egyptian, c3000 BCE

[--- This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. ---]

3. Fife tune

Authorship

by John Manifold (1915-) , copyright ©

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One morning in May
 [ ... ]

4. Here dead we lie

Authorship

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , "Here dead we lie", from More Poems, no. 36, published 1936, copyright ©

Here dead we lie
 [ ... ]

5. A ballad of good Lord Nelson

Authorship

by Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) , copyright ©

 [ ... ]

6. Going to the warres

Authorship

by Richard Lovelace (1618-1658)

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Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Lov'd I not honour more.

7. A sight in camp

Authorship

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) , "A sight in camp in the daybreak grey and dim"

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A sight in camp in the daybreak grey and dim,
As from my tent I emerge so early, sleepless,
As slow I walk in the cool fresh air
the path near by the hospital tent,
Three forms I see on stretchers lying,
brought out there untended lying,
Over each the blanket spread,
ample brownish woollen blanket,
Grey and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.
Curious I halt and silent stand,
Then with light fingers I
from the face of the nearest,
the first, just lift the blanket;
Who are you, elderly man so gaunt and grim,
with well-grey'd hair, and flesh all sunken about the eyes?
Who are you my dear comrade?
Then to the second I step -
and who are you my child and darling?
Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming?
Then to the third - a face nor child nor old,
very calm, as of beautiful yellow-white ivory;
Young man I think I know you -
I think this face is the face of Christ Himself,
Dead and divine and brother of all,
and here again He lies.

8. The end of the world

Authorship

by Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982) , "The end of the world", from Streets in the Moon, published 1926, copyright ©

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9. Grave hour

Authorship

by M. D. Herter Norton , "Grave hour", from Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, pp. 82-83 (The Book of Pictures 1.2), published 1962, copyright ©

a text in German by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) , "Ernste Stunde", from Das Buch der Bilder

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Who now weeps anywhere in the world
 [ ... ]

10. The song of Moses

Authorship

by Bible or other Sacred Texts , from Exodus

[--- This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. ---]

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