After (Elgar)
”After” is a song written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1895, as his Op.31, No.1, with the words from a poem by Philip Bourke Marston.[1][2]
The manuscript is dated 21 June 1895.[1][2]
The song was first performed by the Irish baritone Harry Plunket Greene in St. James's Hall on 2 March 1900, together with A Song of Flight, Op. 31, No.2.[1]
Lyrics
AFTER
- A little time for laughter,
- A little time to sing,
- A little time to kiss and cling,
- And no more kissing after.
- A little while for scheming
- Love's unperfected schemes ;
- A little time for golden dreams,
- Then no more any dreaming.
- A little while 'twas given
- To me to have thy love ;
- Now, like a ghost, alone I move
- About a ruined heaven.
- A little time for speaking
- Things sweet to say and hear ;
- A time to seek, and find thee near,
- Then no more any seeking.
- A little time for saying
- Words the heart breaks to say;
- A short, sharp time wherein to pray,
- Then no more need for praying;
- But long, long years to weep in,
- And comprehend the whole
- Great grief, that desolates the soul,
- And eternity to sleep in.
Recordings
- Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar has "After" performed by Amanda Pitt (soprano), with David Owen Norris (piano).
References
- 1 2 3 Kennedy, Michael (1987). Portrait of Elgar (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 342. ISBN 0-19-284017-7.
- 1 2 Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1984). Edward Elgar: A Creative Life. Oxford University Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-19-315447-1.
- Banfield, Stephen, Sensibility and English Song: Critical studies of the early 20th century (Cambridge University Press, 1985) ISBN 0-521-37944-X
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