War Horse, the Reprise

Visiting with a tourist in London, she said to me that she had loved War Horse, the book, War Horse, the movie, and that she was going to take her grandchildren to it.  But she was going to suggest to them that they read the book before they go.  Then she asked how I had liked it.  I told her that I saw it on Monday and then again on Wednesday, so that might be enough to describe how much I liked it – going back again.  And I think the show can stand on its own – since I had never read the book, nor seen the movie.  If her grandchildren can get the reading done, good.  If not, I suspect they will still enjoy it. 

I loved the song by the story tell that threads its way through the play.  I went to the internet, trying to find it.  That is when I understood it is an old hymn, not one from my Mormon repertoire of hymns.  Here it is below.  If you haven’t time to see the movie or read the book, you might want to at least think about the reason this hymn was used to tie the war horse episodes together.

Words and music by John R. Sweeney and William J. Kirkpatrick, from "On Joyful Wing, A Book of Praise and Song" published by John J. Hood in 1886.

U
p and away like the dew in the morning,
Soaring from the earth to its home in the sun,
Thus we would pass from the earth and its toiling,
Only remembered for what we have done.
Only the truth that in life we have spoken.
Only the seed we have sown,
These shall pass onward when we're forgotten,
Fruits of the harvest and what we have done.

Only remembered, Only remembered,
Only remembered for what we have done,
Only remembered, Only remembered,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Shall we be missed when the others succeed us,
Keeping the fields we in springtime have sown?
No, for the sowers shall pass from their labors,
Only remembered for what they have done.

Only remembered, Only remembered,
Only remembered for what they have done,
Only remembered, Only remembered,
Only remembered for what they have done.

Up and away like the dew in the morning,
Soaring from the earth to its home in the sun,
Thus we would pass from the earth and its toiling,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Fabulous lyrics!

We should all be so lucky as to be remembered only for what we have done.

Arta