Tis Sunshine at Last, Version of WoO 153 nr. 13 for Duet, Hess 178 (mp3)

'Tis Sunshine at Last, Duet version of WoO 153 Nr. 13, Hess 178 (1815).

The more familiar version of this folksong is for solo voice; this version is for suprano and tenor, who swap the melody back and forth throughout the song. The accompaniment parts are identical. In the published version, George Thomson omitted the tenor voice, explaining that it was more effective sung as a solo. He asked the poet, William Smyth, to produce an extra stanza suitable for a duet, but none was forthcoming.

'Tis Sunshine at Last

'Tis sunshine at last, come, my Ellen, sit near me,
And twine me these roses, we sorrow no more;
Come taste of my cup, while it sparkles to cheer me,
The cup that I fill, now the tempest is o'er.
Oh! not that my mirth, with unhallow'd intrusion,
Would thy gentle mind to rude transport beguile,
But catch from my bowl one fond passing illusion,
And crown my gay heart with thy sympathy's smile.

Come taste of my cup - for 'till Ellen shall share it, 
In vain are the roses - in vain is the wine:
Past sorrow shall sweeten, and love shall prepare it,
For forms that are softer and finer like thine.
Bright beams a new world. and sweet visions break o'er us,
And as landscapes are fresher when past are the show'rs,
So richer the bliss and the gay hopes before us - 
For where are the hearts that have sorrow'd like ours.

Oh! ever, my love, must I think of that season,
When, friendless, we mingled our terrors and sighs;
And how had I failed, in the night of my reason,
Had comfort not beam'd from thine eloquent eyes.
Take the glass that I fill, take the homage I render:
No riot shall break the soft dreams of the soul;
Around us shall breathe an Elysium more tender,
And finer enchantment be waked from my bowl.

	---William Smyth

WoO: 153
Hess: 178

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