Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

When the lad for longing sighs

Alfred Edward Housman

“When the lad for longing sighs” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 60 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

When the lad for longing sighs,

Mute and dull of cheer and pale,

If at death's own door he lies,

Maiden, you can heal his ail.

Verse 2

Lovers' ills are all to buy:

The wan look, the hollow tone,

The hung head, the sunken eye,

You can have them for your own.

Verse 3

Buy them, buy them: eve and morn

Lovers' ills are all to sell.

Then you can lie down forlorn;

But the lover will be well.

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), “When the lad for longing sighs”

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

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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.
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