Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly

Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly;
Why should men make haste to die?
Empty heads and tongues a-talking
Make the rough road easy walking,
And the feather pate of folly
Bears the falling sky.

Oh, 'tis jesting, dancing, drinking
Spins the heavy world around.
If young hearts were not so clever,
Oh, they would be young for ever;
Think no more; 'tis only thinking
Lays lads underground.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , no title, from A Shropshire Lad, no. 49, 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-) , "Think no more, lad", published 1967 [medium voice and piano], from Housman Songs, no. 10.
by Joyce Barrell (1917-) , "Think no more, lad" [SSA chorus a cappella]
by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885-1916) , "Think no more, lad", published 1911 [medium-high voice and piano], from Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, no. 4.
by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882-1950) , "Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Nine "Shropshire Lad" Songs, no. ?
by Charles Fonteyn Manney (1872-1951) , "Disillusion", published 1914, from A Shropshire Lad, no. ?
by Willy B. Manson , "Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly", published 1920 [voice and piano], from Three Poems from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?
by Hugh Priestley-Smith , "Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly", published <<1943 [voice and piano], from From the West Country, no. ?
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "Think no more, lad", published 1904 [voice and piano], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 8.

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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