The two old kings (Tabley, set by W. Alwyn) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


 In ruling well what guerdon? Life runs low,
 As yonder lamp upon the hour-glass lies,
 Waning and wasted. We are great and wise,
 But Love is gone; and Silence seems to grow
 Along the misty road where we must go.
 From summits near the morning star's uprise,
 Death comes, a shadow from the norhtern skies,
 As, when all leaves are down, thence comes the snow.

 Brother and king, we hold our last carouse.
 One loving cup we drain and then farewell.
 The night is spent. The crystal morning ray
 Calls us, as soldiers laurelled on our brows,
 To march undaunted, while the clarions swell,
 Heroic hearts, upon our lonely way.

Authorship

Warren John Byrne Leicester, Baron de Tabley (1835-1895)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

William Alwyn (1905-1985)

A leave-taking

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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