The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow...

The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,
  There's men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,
The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,
  And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.

There's chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,
  And many to count are the stalwart, and many the brave,
And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,
  And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.

I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tell
  The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;
And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell
  And watch them depart on the way that they will not return.

But now you may stare as you like and there's nothing to scan;
  And brushing your elbow unguessed at and not to be told
They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man,
  The lads that will die in their glory and never be old.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , no title, from A Shropshire Lad, no. 23, 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 George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885-1916) , "The lads in their hundreds", published 1911 [medium-high voice and piano], from Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, no. 5.
by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882-1950) , "The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Nine "Shropshire Lad" Songs, no. ?
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "Ludlow Fair", published 1923 [tenor, string quartet, and piano], from Ludlow and Teme, no. 4.
by Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) , "The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair", published 1924 [baritone and piano], from Ludlow Town, no. 4.
by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893-1976) , "The lads in their hundreds", published 1937. [tenor and piano]
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair", published 1904 [voice and piano], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 10.
by Stanley Wilson , "Ludlow Fair", published <<1967 [TTBB a cappella], from Four Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?

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