The lent lily

'Tis spring; come out to ramble
The hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found.

And there's the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play,
And there's the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter Day.

And since till girls go maying
You find the primrose still,
And find the windflower playing
With every wind at will,
But not the daffodil.

Bring baslkets nw, and sally
Upon the spring's array,
And bear from hill and valley
The daffodil away
That dies on Easter Day.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , "The lent lily", from A Shropshire Lad, no. 29, 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 Constance Maclean Champion , "The flowers of Easter", published 1964. [four-part chorus and piano]
by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882-1950) , "The lent lily", published <<1944 [voice and piano], from Five "Shropshire Lad" Songs, no. ?
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "The lent lily", published 1923 [tenor, string quartet, and piano], from Ludlow and Teme, no. 7.
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "The lent lily", from A Shropshire Lad, no. 3.
by John Ireland (1879-1962) , "The lent lily", published 1921 [voice and piano], from The Land of Lost Content, no. 1.
by Hilda Milvain , "The lenten lily", published 1925. [voice and piano]
by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893-1976) , "The lent lily", published 1934 [baritone and piano], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?
by Morfydd Owen (1891-1918) , "The lent lily"
by Leslie Russell , "The lent lily", 1970-4. [voice and piano]
by Stanley Wilson , "The lent lily", published <<1967 [TTBB a cappella], from Four Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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