Along the field as we came by

Along the field as we came by
A year ago, my love and I,
The aspen over stile and stone
Was talking to itself alone.
"Oh who are these that kiss and pass?
A country lover and his lass;
Two lovers looking to be wed;
And time shall put them both to bed,
But she shall lie with earth above,
And he beside another love."

And sure enough beneath the tree
There walks another love with me,
And overhead the aspen heaves
Its rainy-sounding silver leaves;
And I spell nothing in their stir,
But now perhaps they speak to her,
And plain for her to understand
They talk about a time at hand
When I shall sleep with clover clad,
And she beside another lad.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , from A Shropshire Lad, no. 26, 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 Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "The aspens", published 1926 [baritone, string quartet, and piano], from The Western Playland, no. 5.
by Wendell Keeney , "The aspen", published 1940. [voice and piano]
by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893-1976) , "Along the field", published 1934 [baritone and piano], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Along the field", 1927, published 1954, rev. 1954 [voice and violin], from Along the Field, no. 1.

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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