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Text
Before life and after
English source:
Thomas Hardy
A time there was—as one may guess
And as, indeed, earth’s testimonies tell—
before the birth of consciousness,
When all went well.
None suffered sickness, love, or loss,
None knew regret, starved hope, or heart-burnings;
None cared whatever crash or cross
Brought wrack to things.
If something ceased, no tongue bewailed,
If something winced and waned, no heart was wrung;
If brightness dimmed, and dark prevailed.
No sense was stung.
But the disease of feeling germed,
And primal rightness took the tinct of wrong:
Ere nescience shall be reaffirmed
How long, how long?
And as, indeed, earth’s testimonies tell—
before the birth of consciousness,
When all went well.
None suffered sickness, love, or loss,
None knew regret, starved hope, or heart-burnings;
None cared whatever crash or cross
Brought wrack to things.
If something ceased, no tongue bewailed,
If something winced and waned, no heart was wrung;
If brightness dimmed, and dark prevailed.
No sense was stung.
But the disease of feeling germed,
And primal rightness took the tinct of wrong:
Ere nescience shall be reaffirmed
How long, how long?
Composer
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music,…
Poet
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly…