After (Elgar)

"After" is a song written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1895, as his Op. 31, No. 1, with the words from a poem by Philip Bourke Marston.^[1][2]

The manuscript is dated 21 June 1895.^[1][2]

The song was first performed by the Irish baritone

A little time for laughter,
  A little time to sing,
  A little time to kiss and cling,
And no more kissing after.

A little while for scheming
  Love's unperfected schemes;
  A little time for golden dreams,
Then no more any dreaming.

A little while 'twas given
  To me to have thy love;
  Now, like a ghost, alone I move
About a ruined heaven.

A little time for speaking
  Things sweet to say and hear;
  A time to seek, and find thee near,
Then no more any seeking.

A little time for saying
  Words the heart breaks to say;
  A short, sharp time wherein to pray,
Then no more need for praying;

But long, long years to weep in,
  And comprehend the whole
  Great grief, that desolates the soul,
And eternity to sleep in.[3]

Recordings

• Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar has "After" performed by Amanda Pitt (soprano), with David Owen Norris (piano).

References

• Banfield, Stephen, Sensibility and English Song: Critical studies of the early 20th century (Cambridge University Press, 1985)
  ISBN 0-521-37944-X

• After: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project