Oh fair enough are sky and plain

Oh fair enough are sky and plain,
But I know fairer far:
Those are as beautiful again
That in the water are;

The pools and rivers wash so clean
The trees and clouds and air,
The like on earth was never seen,
And oh that I were there.

These are the thoughts I often think
As I stand gazing down
In act upon the cressy brink
To strip and dive and drown;

But in the golden sanded brooks
And azure meres I spy
A silly lad that longs and looks
And wishes he were I.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , no title, from A Shropshire Lad, no. 20, published 1896

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

by Robert F. Baksa (1938-) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", from Housman Songs, no. 7.
by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885-1916) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", published 1912 [voice and piano], from Bredon Hill and other songs, no. 2.
by Louis Crerar , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", 1954 [high voice and piano], from Housman Songs, no. ?
by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", c1933.
by Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", published 1957. [baritone and piano]
by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893-1976) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", published 1934 [baritone and piano], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?
by Corbett C. Sumsion , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", published c1936. [TTBB chorus a cappella]
by Freda Swain (1902-) , "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", 1925 [tenor and piano ensemble], from The Lost Heart, no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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