The Reaper and the flowers

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
  And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
  And the flowers that grow between. 

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he;
  "Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
  I will give them all back again."

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes,
  He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
  He bound them in his sheaves. 

"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,"
  The Reaper said, and smiled;
"Dear tokens of the earth are they,
  Where He was once a child. 

"They shall all bloom in fields of light,
  Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
  These sacred blossoms wear." 

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
  The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again
  In the fields of light above. 

Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
  The Reaper came that day;
'T was an angel visited the green earth,
  And took the flowers away.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) , "The Reaper and the flowers", from Voices of the Night, published 1839

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

by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) , "The Reaper and the flowers", published >>1858. [voice and piano]
by Collingwood Banks , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by John Blockley (1800-1882) , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Frederick Clay (1838-1889) , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935) , "The Reaper and the flowers", published >>1877.
by Luther Orlando Emerson (1820-1915) , "The Reaper and the flowers"
by James Fitzgerald , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Frederic R. Fontein-Tuinhout (1854-1909) , "The Reaper and the flowers", op. 10 (Three serious songs) no. 2, published 1906. [alto or bass-baritone and piano]
by Carl Hempel , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Edward Laurence Hime (1823-) , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by John William Hobbs (1799-1877) , "The Reaper and the flowers", published 186-? [voice and piano]
by Charles Marshall (1857-1927) , "Heavenly blossoms" [voice and piano]
by Frank Melville , "The Reaper & the flowers" [voice and piano]
by (Jakob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) , "The Reaper and the flowers"
by William Henry Montgomery (1811?-1886) , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Kathleen O'Reilly , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by Ciro Pinsuti (1829-1888) , "There is a Reaper" [vocal trio and piano]
by Carl Reinhardt , "The Reaper and the flowers", published 185-? [voice and piano]
by Henry Stap , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]
by John Rodgers Thomas (1829-1896) , "The Reaper and the flowers", published 1861.
by Zeta , "The Reaper and the flowers" [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2008-06-22.

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