" Love alone will stay" is a poem by Caroline Alice Elgar

Caroline Alice Elgar

Caroline Alice, Lady Elgar was an English author of verse and prose fiction, who married the composer Edward Elgar.- Family :...

, set to music for voice and piano by her husband, the English composer Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...

, in 1897.

The song was first published in the cultural magazine “The Dome

The Dome (periodical)

The Dome published in London at 7 Cecil Court by the Unicorn Press and subtitled consecutively "A Quarterly Containing Examples of the Arts" and "An Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Review" was a literary periodical associated with the "Nineties" scene, edited by Ernest J. Oldmeadow. It ran for...

” - “a Quarterly containing Examples of All the Arts”. It is artistically scripted in Elgar’s own hand, and signed and dated “12.IX.97.”

Elgar later included a revised version of the poem as the second song, renamed "In Haven

In Haven

In Haven is a poem by Caroline Alice Elgar, probably best known in its musical setting as the second song composed by her husband Edward Elgar for his song-cycle Sea Pictures.- History :...

", in his song-cycle for voice and orchestra "Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures, Op. 37 is a song cycle by Sir Edward Elgar consisting of five songs written by various poets. It was set for contralto and orchestra, though a distinct version for piano was often performed by Elgar...

".

Lyrics

as published in "The Dome" LOVE ALONE WILL STAY Closely cling, for winds drive fast, Blossoms perish in the blast, Love alone will last. Closely let me hold thy hand, Storms are sweeping sea and land, Love alone will stand. Kiss my lips, and softly say, "Joy may go and sunlit day, Love alone will stay."

in "Sea Pictures" IN HAVEN (CAPRI) Closely let me hold thy hand, Storms are sweeping sea and land; Love alone will stand. Closely cling, for waves beat fast, Foam-flakes cloud the hurrying blast; Love alone will last. Kiss my lips, and softly say: "Joy, sea-swept, may fade to-day; Love alone will stay."