Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the Unknown Region, Where neither ground is for the feet nor any path to follow? No map there, nor guide, Nor voice sounding, nor touch of human hand, Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes, are in that land. I know it not O Soul; Nor dost thou -- all is a blank before us; All waits, undream'd of, in that region, [that inaccessible land]1. Till when the [ties loosen]2, All but the ties eternal, Time and Space, Nor darkness, gravitation, sense, nor any bounds, [bound]3 us. Then we burst forth -- we float, In Time and Space, O Soul, prepared for them; Equal, equipt at last, -- (O joy! O fruit of all!) them to fulfil, O Soul.
Sieben Lieder nach Walt Whitman
by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963)
1. Darest thou now, O Soul  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Darest thou now O Soul"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Note: the indented lines have been broken off from the preceding lines so that parallel translations will be easier to see. This poem has five stanzas of three lines each.
1 W. Schuman: "the inaccessible land,/ The unknown region."2 Bacon: "tie is loosened"
3 Bacon: "bounding"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
2. In clouds descending, in midnight sleep  [sung text not yet checked]
In clouds descending, in midnight sleep, of many a face of anguish, Of the look at first of the mortally wounded—of that indescribable look; Of the dead on their backs, with arms extended wide, I dream, I dream, I dream. Of scenes of nature, the fields and the mountains; Of the skies, so beauteous after the storm — and at night the moon so unearthly bright, Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps, I dream, I dream, I dream. Long have they pass'd, long lapsed—faces and trenches and fields; Long through the carnage I moved with a callous composure — or away from the fallen, Onward I sped at the time—But now of their forms at night, I dream, I dream, I dream.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "In clouds descending, in midnight sleep", appears in Leaves of Grass
Go to the single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Look down, fair moon  [sung text not yet checked]
Look down, fair moon and bathe this scene, Pour softly down night's nimbus floods, on faces ghastly, swollen, purple; On the dead, on their backs, with [their]1 arms toss'd wide, Pour down your unstinted nimbus, sacred moon.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Look down, fair moon", appears in Drum Taps, first published 1965
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Drum-Taps, ed. by Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price, The Walt Whitman Archive
1 omitted by Rands.Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
4. O captain! My captain!  [sung text not yet checked]
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won; [The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:]1 But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. [O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.]1
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 omitted by Neidlinger.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
5. Tears  [sung text not yet checked]
Tears! tears! tears! In the night, in solitude, tears, On the white shore dripping, dripping, suck'd in by the sand, Tears, not a star shining, all dark and desolate, Moist tears from the eyes of a muffled head; O who is that ghost? that form in the dark, with tears? What shapeless lump is that, bent, crouch'd there on the sand? Streaming tears, sobbing tears, throes, choked with wild cries; O storm, embodied, rising, careering with swift steps along the beach! O wild and dismal night storm, with wind - O howling and desperate! O shade so sedate by day, with calm countenance and steady pace, But away at night as you fly, none looking - O then the unloosen'd ocean, Of tears! tears! tears!
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Tears"
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry6. A clear midnight  [sung text not yet checked]
This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best, Night, sleep, death, and the stars.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A clear midnight"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Portions of this text were used in Idyll by Frederick Delius.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
7. Gliding o'er all  [sung text not yet checked]
Gliding o'er all, through all, Through Nature, Time, and Space, As a ship on the waters advancing, The voyage of the soul--not life alone, Death, many deaths I'll sing.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]