Ah, Love, but a day (Browning, set by A. Beach, H. Gilberté, C. Rogers) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Ah, Love, but a day,
And the world has changed!
The sun's away,
And the bird estranged;
The wind has dropped, 
And the sky's deranged;
Summer has stopped.

Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
Should I fear surprise?
Shall I find aught new 
In the old and dear,
In the good and true,
With the changing year?

Thou art a man,
But I am thy love.
For the lake, its swan;
For the dell, its dove;
And for thee — (oh, haste!)
Me, to bend above,
Me, to hold embraced.

Authorship

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

James Lee's Wife

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

Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944)

Three Browning Songs

Hallet Gilberté (1872-1946)

Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844-1931)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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