Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
24 / 63
Public-domain lyrics

Now hollow fires burn out to black

Alfred Edward Housman

“Now hollow fires burn out to black” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 24 1896 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsVictorian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from A Shropshire Lad, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Now hollow fires burn out to black,

And lights are guttering low:

Square your shoulders, lift your pack,

And leave your friends and go.

Verse 2

Oh never fear, man, nought 's to dread,

Look not left nor right:

In all the endless road you tread

There 's nothing but the night.

Credits

Written by Alfred Edward Housman

Words by Alfred Edward Housman. Historical text published in A Shropshire Lad (1896); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Shropshire Lad (1896), “Now hollow fires burn out to black”

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) died more than 89 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2007, and the 1896 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
Keep tracing

More from Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics.

01'T is time, I think, by Wenlock townPublic-domain lyrics021887Public-domain lyrics03Along the field as we came byPublic-domain lyrics04As through the wild green hills of WyrePublic-domain lyrics