Title: The Vagabond (from Songs of Travel)
Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
Free at Art Song Central (PDF files):
- The Vagabond (original key)
- Key: E minor
- Range: A3 – E♭5
- Source: Songs of Travel
- The Vagabond (high)
- Key: E minor
- Range: D♭4 – G5
- Source: Songs of Travel
MIDI:
- Available at The Silvis Woodshed.
Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above,
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river –
There’s the life for a man like me,
There’s the life for ever.Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above,
And the road below me.Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field –
Warm the fireside haven –
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above,
And the road below me.
- Recmusic.org has texts and translations.
