My old tunes (Blackwood, set by E. Elgar) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


My old tunes are rather broken, 
And they come from far away,
Bringing just a little token
Of a long-forgotten day;

When the children came to listen,
T'other side the garden fence,
And my heart leapt out of prison,
At the gift of seven-pence!

Just beyond the haystack's shadow,
Long ago that leafy June,
How they danced about the meadow
At the risin' of the moon!

While from out a railway carriage,
Standing ready and alight,
Stepped their guests as to a marriage
Asked to dine and stay the night!

Sweep, and Laughter danced together,
And a man who had a lamp 
Capered lightly as a feather
With a lazy-looking tramp;

When a voice disturbed the Lancers:
"Children, come, it's time for bed"
Railway carriages, Sprites and Dancers
Flew up to the stars instead!

Now I am a Constellation,
Free from ev'ry earthly care,
Playing nightly at my station
For the Big and Little Bear.

But my tunes are still entrancing
As that night in leafy June,
When I caught the children dancing
With the Sprites beneath the moon!

Still the children come to hear me
In the lane or dingy street;
Still the heavy pavement near me
Flutters to their happy feet;

For my tunes are ne'er forgotten,
And they bring the scent of musk:
Grown up folk may call 'em rotten,
But I'm looked for when it's dusk!

Authorship

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951)

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

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

The Starlight Express

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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