Songs

Ah, Love, but a day

by Amy Beach From Three Browning Songs (1899)

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Ah, Love, but a day' from Three Browning Songs - listen here.


Text

Ah, Love, but a day
English source: Robert Browning

Ah, Love, but a day,
And the world has changed!
The sun’s away,
And the bird estranged;
The wind has dropped,
And the sky’s deranged;
Summer has stopped.

Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
Should I fear surprise?
Shall I find aught new
In the old and dear,
In the good and true,
With the changing year?

Thou art a man,
But I am thy love.
For the lake, its swan;
For the dell, its dove;
And for thee — (oh, haste!)
Me, to bend above,
Me, to hold embraced.

Composer

Amy Beach

The composer and pianist Amy Beach (1867-1944) is recognised as a leading figure in American music, the first woman to gain success with large-scale musical forms. She came from a prosperous family in New Hampshire. Her mother Clara Cheney was a…

Poet

Robert Browning

Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humour, social…

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