To Idleness – wind quartet and guitar

Description

Instrumental arrangement of my setting of Dave Dunning’s poem To Idleness.

These are the words of the original poem:

When autumn harvests
are full grown
and luscious fruits
to me are shown,
piled plump and rich
till stomachs groan

when autumn harvests
are full grown

ripe juices puddle
on the tongue,
and winter I forget
in gurgling song.

once when the fresh
new spring was here
I lavished though
to sow the year
oh dreaming seasons
never interfere
with worldly bounty,
scorned the prudent song
and prayed March winds
to buffet time along

Soon in the heat
of summer haze
I floundered on
through deep green maize,
where heavy herds
lowed as they grazed,
I saw that I would
reap in thought
among the rich;
and time moved on
with busy song,
now in the heat of summer

Now winter creeps
between the sashes
and rain upon
the window lashes
while wild wind moans
round rafters dashes
and I to annual
poverty belong,
yet know that spring
flows richly on in song

When autumn harvests
are full grown
and luscious fruits
to me are shown,
piled plump and rich
till stomachs groan

when autumn harvests
are full grown

ripe juices puddle
on the tongue,
and winter I forget
in gurgling song.