I saw thy form in youthful prime (Michael William Balfe)
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- Editor: David Anderson (submitted 2024-01-16). Score information: Letter, 12 pages, 575 kB Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes:
General Information
Title: I saw thy form in youthful prime
Composer: Anonymous (Traditional)
Arranger: Michael William Balfe
Lyricist: Thomas Moore
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong, Folksong
Language: English
Instruments: Piano
First published: 1859 J. Alfred Novello
Description: AIR: DOMHNALL
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
I saw thy form in youthful prime,
Nor thought that pale decay
Would steal before the steps of Time,
And waste its bloom away, Mary!
Yet still thy features wore that light,
Which fleets not with the breath;
And life ne’er look’d more truly bright
Than in thy smile of death, Mary!
As streams that run o’er golden mines,
With modest murmur glide,
Nor seem to know the wealth that shines
Within their gentle tide, Mary!
So veil’d beneath the simplest guise,
Thy radiant genius shone,
And that which charm’d all other eyes
Seem’d worthless in thy own, Mary!
If souls could always dwell above,
Thou ne’er hadst left thy sphere;
Or could we keep the souls we love,
We ne’er had lost thee here, Mary!
Though many a gifted mind we meet,
Though fairest forms we see,
To live with them is far less sweet
Than to remember thee, Mary!