All is vanity, saith the preacher

Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine, 
And health and youth possess'd me; 
My goblets blush'd from every vine, 
And lovely forms carress'd me; 
I sunn'd my heart in beauty's eyes, 
And felt my soul grow tender; 
All earth can give, or mortal prize, 
Was mine of regal splendour. 

I strive to number o'er what days 
Remembrance can discover, 
Which all that life or earth displays 
Would lure me to live over. 
There rose no day, there roll'd no hour 
Of pleasure unembitter'd: 
And not a trapping deck'd my power 
That gall'd not while it glitter'd. 

The serpent of the field, by art 
And spells, is won from harming; 
But that which coils around the heart, 
Oh! who hath power of charming? 
It will not list to wisdom's lore, 
Nor music's voice can lure it; 
But there it stings for evermore 
The soul that must endure it.

by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788-1824) , "All is vanity, saith the preacher", from Hebrew Melodies, no. 21, published 1815

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

by David Leo Diamond (1915-2005) , "All is vanity", published 1969 [voice and piano], from Hebrew melodies, no. 4.
by Isaac Nathan (1790-1864) , "Fame, wisdom, love and power", published 1815 [voice and piano], from A Selection of Hebrew Melodies No. I, no. 21.

by Carl Debrois van Bruyck (1828-1902) , "Alles ist eitel spricht der Prediger Salern" [voice and piano]
by M. Henle , "Alles ist eitel, spricht der Prediger", op. 4 no. 6, published 1897 [voice and piano], from Hebräische Gesänge nach jüdischen Melodien, no. 6.
by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869) , "Alles ist eitel, spricht der Prediger", op. 4 (Hebräische Gesänge) no. 4 (1823).

Date added to the website: 2003-11-02.

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