If I were dead

"If I were dead, you'd sometimes say, Poor Child!"
The dear lips quiver'd as they spake,
And the tears brake
From eyes which, not to grieve me, brightly smiled.
Poor Child, poor Child!
I seem to hear your laugh, your talk, your song.
It is not true that Love will do no wrong.
Poor Child!
And did you think, when you so cried and smiled,
How I, in lonely nights, should lie awake,
And of those words your full avengers make?
Poor Child, poor Child!
And now, unless it be
That sweet amends thrice told are come to thee,
O God, have Thou no mercy upon me!
Poor Child!

by Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (1823-1896) , no title, from The Unknown Eros and other Odes I-XXI, published 1877

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

by John H. Ashton (1938-) , "If I were dead", 1973, first performed 1973 [baritone, SSA chorus, flute, alto saxophone, trumpet, horn, and piano], from Songs from "The Unknown Eros", no. ?

Date added to the website: 2008-09-11.

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