The Forester (Elizabeth Stirling)

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• (Posted 2023-12-12)  CPDL #78108:     

Editor: David Anderson (submitted 2023-12-12).   Score information: Letter, 12 pages, 863 kB   Copyright: Personal

Edition notes:

General Information

Title: The Forester
Composer: Elizabeth Stirling
Lyricist:
Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong

Language: English
Instruments: A cappella

First published: 1860 J. Alfred Novello
Description: 

Original text and translations

English text

Forester, leave thy woodland range,
And hie thee hence with me;
For brighter scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake thy greenwood tree.
Come, gather thy cloak above the knee,
And take thy tall staff down,
I’ll show thee what delights they be
That dwell in tow’r and town.
Forester, leave thy woodland range,
And hie thee hence with me;
For brighter scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake thy greenwood tree.

Stranger, check thy bright bay steed,
To sojourn with me here,
And turn him forth at large to feed
Amongst these dappled deer:
And thou, while summer skies are clear,
Within my greenwood bow’r,
Shalt scorn the pleasure once so dear,
That dwell in town or tow’r.
So I’ll not leave my woodland range,
To hie me hence with thee,
Nor for your scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake the greenwood tree.

Well may I find a better home,
My steed a warmer stall;
I know full many a lordly dome,
Full many a palace hall,
Where stately rows of columns tall
The fretted roof sustain,
Then forester, yield thee to my call,
And follow me o’er the plain.
Forester, leave thy woodland range,
And hie thee hence with me,
For brighter scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake thy greenwood tree.

Doth lofty roof delight thine eye,
Or stately pillar please,
Look, stranger, at yon azure sky,
And pillars such as these,
Where, wreathing round majestic trees,
The verdant ivy clings;
The pillar’d roofs the peasant sees,
Are fit to shelter kings.
So I’ll not leave my woodland range,
To hie me hence with thee,
Nor for your scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake the greenwood tree.