Tell me, tell me, smiling child

Tell me, tell me, smiling child,
What the past is like to thee?
"An autumn evening soft and mild
With a wind that sighs mournfully."

Tell me, what is the present hour?
"A green and flowery spray
Where a young bird sits gathering its power
To mount and fly away."

[Tell me, tell me,]1 what is the future, happy one?
"A sea beneath a cloudless sun;
 a mighty, glorious, dazzling sea
Stretching into infinity.

by Emily Brontë (1818-1848) , from Poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë Now for the First Time Printed, published 1902

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

by Terry Fisk , no title, published 2002 [voice, piano], from Wuthering Heights, no. 49.
by John Joubert (1927-) , "Oracle", published 1971 [high voice and piano], from Six Poems of Emily Brontë, no. ?
by John Mitchell (1941-) , "Tell me, tell me, smiling child", op. 24 no. 3 (1977), from The Earth, the Wind, and the Sky, no. 3.
by Robert Owens , "Tell me, tell me", op. 18 (3 Songs) no. 2. [low voice and piano]
by Nick Peros , "Tell me, tell me, smiling child"
by Rudolph Werther (1896-?) , "Tell me, tell me", 1945-70. [voice, piano]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Sheet music:

  Search sheetmusicplus.com for Tell me, tell me, smiling child, Tell me, tell me, Oracle, Art song , Lieder, chansons, or works for solo voice
  Search musicroom.com for Tell me, tell me, smiling child, Tell me, tell me, Oracle, vocal/choral music

CDs:

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Books:

  The Art of the Song Recital [amazon.com]
  The Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of Over 1000 Songs [amazon.com]
  Search amazon.com for art song, Lieder, or chansons
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Classical Vocal Repertoire