Wikipedia article
'"A Song of Flight"' is a song written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1895, as his Op. 31, No. 2, with the words from a poem by Christina Rossetti.
The song was first performed by the Irish baritone Harry Plunket Greene in St. James's Hall on 2 March 1900, together with After, Op. 31, No. 1.[
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Lyrics
A SONG OF FLIGHT
:While we slumber and sleep
:The sun leaps up from the deep.
:Daylight born at the leap!
::Rapid, dominant, free,
::Athirst to bathe in the uttermost sea.
:While we linger at play,
:If the year would stand at May!
:Winds are up and away
::Over land, over sea,
::To their goal wherever their goal may be.
:It is time to arise
:To race for the promised prize,
:The Sun flies, the Wind flies.
::We are strong, we are free,
::And home lies beyond the stars and the sea.
References
*Banfield, Stephen, 'Sensibility and English Song: Critical studies of the early 20th century' (Cambridge University Press, 1985)
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