HOME (Z. Randall Stroope)

HOME - Z. Randall Stroope, composer; Francis Ledwidge, poet; Carl Fischer Music; (available for purchase, January 2025); duration 3:15.
TEXT (Francis Ledwidge)
A BURST of sudden wings at dawn, Faint voices in a dreamy noon,
Evenings of mist and murmurings, And nights with rainbows of the
moon.
...
They call me Home, Home!
Arise, o fearless heart arise
And go where
my heart dances
And my soul sings - Home!
Walls of sanctuary,
Roof that echoes laughter,
Moonlight peers through Windows,
Floors where mem'ries linger.
It was about the little fields
That call across the world to me.
(Come) Home.
Francis Ledwidge was a 20th century Irish poet. Born into a poor family with nine children, he started writing at a young age and a local newspaper first published one of his works when he was just 14. Ledwidge had only an elementary school education, worked as a miner and laborer in his late teens and early twenties, and was a social and political activist (which lead to many conflicts in his short life). Nevertheless, he managed to successfully connect into some influencial writers in important literary Irish circles, resulting in Ledwidge's early works getting published. Though he opposed war, Ledwidge enlisted in the army out of his love for Ireland. Sadly, he was killed in battle in 1917, just months before World War I ended.
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