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Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel: No. 1, The Vagabond

Picture of Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel: No. 1, The Vagabond The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1913 James Bacon and Sons, Leeds, via Wikimedia Commons

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Description

Sir Thomas Allen performs 'The Vagabond', the first of nine songs in Ralph Vaughan Williams' song cycle, 'Songs of Travel'. Allen is accompanied by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle. 

Lyrics

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!

Page created on 8/30/2026 4:28:10 PM

Last edited 8/30/2026 4:40:06 PM