PDF Copy
$1.50
Premiere: October 18, 2024
Run time: 4:00
Sample page
Drink of Life Again
SSAATTBB, unaccompanied
Words by A. E. Housman (1859-1936)
A. E. Housman (1859-1936) was one of the foremost classicist poets of his time. “When green buds hang in the elm like dust” was published in 1936 after the poet's death in “More Poems.” For this setting, I tried to capture both the hopefulness and melancholy present in the poem.
When green buds hang in the elm like dust
And sprinkle the lime like rain,
Forth I wander, forth I must,
And drink of life again.
Forth I must by hedgerow bowers
To look at the leaves uncurled,
And stand in the fields where cuckoo-flowers
Are lying about the world.
Video
Audio
Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash