This edition was prepared by David Anderson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Fate’s Discourtesy
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Fate’s Discourtesy by Edward Elgar — Lyrics
Be well assured that on our side
Our challenged oceans fight,
Though headlong wind and heaping tide
Make us their sport tonight.
By force of weather, not of war,
In jeopardy we steer.
Then welcome Fate’s discourtesy
Whereby it shall appear
How in all time of our distress,
As in our triumph too,
The game is more than the player of the game,
And the ship is more than the crew!
Out of the mist into the mirk
The glimmering combers roll.
Almost these mindless waters work
As though they had a soulAlmost as though they leagued to whelm
Our flag beneath their green:
Then welcome Fate’s discourtesy
Whereby it shall be seen, etc.
Be well assured, though wave and wind
Have mightier blows in store,
That we who keep the watch assigned
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About Fate’s Discourtesy
Written for a male-voice choir, Edward Elgar’s secular partsong Fate’s Discourtesy sets a stirring poem by William Ernest Henley. The text depicts sailors battling a tempest at sea, where the power of nature – the wind, the tide, the mindless waters – seems to threaten their very survival. The poem speaks of the insignificance of the individual against the overwhelming forces of the elements, proclaiming that 'the game is more than the player of the game, And the ship is more than the crew!' It is a dramatic and philosophical exploration of humanity’s struggle against the uncontrollable might of the natural world, an appropriate theme for a vigorous, resolute male-voice anthem.
