This edition was prepared by David Anderson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Departed Joys
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Departed Joys by William Webster Pearson — Lyrics
As slow our ship her foamy track
Against the wind was cleaving,
Her trembling pennant still looked back
To that dear isle ’twas leaving.
So loath we part from all we love,
From all the links that bind us;
So turn our hearts, as on we rove,
To those we’ve left behind us!
(omitted in Pearson’s setting)
When, round the bowl, of vanished years
We talk with joyous seeming,—
With smiles that might as well be tears,
So faint, so sad their beaming;
While memory brings us back again
Each early tie that twined us,
O, sweet’s the cup that circles then
To those we’ve left behind us!
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About Departed Joys
William Webster Pearson's SATB setting of Departed Joys opens with a gentle, flowing texture, the voices weaving together to evoke the poignant emotion of the text. The music captures the bittersweet feeling of leaving behind cherished places and people, a theme explored in the words of the first verse. Pearson's setting is a moving reflection on memory and longing, where the harmony shifts to mirror the wistful sentiments. This English partsong offers a contemplative and expressive experience for a choir seeking to convey a sense of nostalgia and affection.
