Songs

But thou forsooth must be a king

by Arnold Schoenberg From Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte

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Text

But thou forsooth must be a king
English source: George Gordon, Lord Byron

But thou forsooth must be a king,
And don the purple vest,
As if that foolish robe could wring
Remembrance from thy breast.
Where is that faded garment? where
The gewgaws thou wert fond to wear,
The star, the string, the crest?
Vain froward child of empire! say,
Are all thy playthings snatched away?

Composer

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg or Schönberg was an Austrian composer, music theorist, and painter. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School.

Poet

George Gordon, Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron (later Noel), 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's…

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