Slowly, silently, now the moon

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch 
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
[From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep]1
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

Translation(s): FRE GER

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Silver", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 7. Earth and Air, no. 4, first published 1913 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Violet Balestreri Archer (1913 - 2000), "Silver", <<1952. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Gary Bachlund , "Silver", 1985 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Three Poems of Walter de la Mare, no. 3. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989), "Silver", published 1948 [medium voice and piano], from Five Songs [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Silver", published 1969 [voice and piano], from Tit for tat, no. 3. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Walter Joseph Buczynski (b. 1933), "Silver", 1955 [alto and piano], from Four Poems of Walter de la Mare [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Arthur Butterworth (b. 1923), "Silver", 1948 [soprano and piano], from Four Nocturnal Songs [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Silver", published 1961. [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Emeléus , "Silver", published 1962. [unison chorus and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Harry Farjeon (1878 - 1948), "Silver", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from The Little Green Orchard [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Silver", op. 77 no. 9 (1951), published 1960 [soprano or mezzo-soprano solo, three-part women's chorus, and strings], from Of a Summer Day, no. 9, Association of American Choruses, Philadelphia [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Silver", op. 30 no. 2 (1920), published 1922. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Harold Walter Greenhill (1902 - ?), "Silver", published 1934. [2-part children's chorus or women's chorus and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Colin Hand (1929 - 2015), "Silver", published 1955. [unison chorus and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Victor Harris (1869 - 1943), "Silver", published 1922. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "Silver", published 1928. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "Silver", from Four songs, no. 2. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Elaine Hugh-Jones (b. 1927), "Silver", 1985 [soprano or tenor and piano], from Eight Songs of Walter de la Mare, no. 6. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by John G. Koch (b. 1928), "Silver", published 1965. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (b. 1925), "Silver", published 1959 [SSA chorus a cappella], from Peacock Pie [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Reginald Redman (1892 - 1972), "Silver", published 1967. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Annetta Rosser (1938 - 1998), "Silver", published 1997, from Winter Songs, no. 4. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Neil Saunders (b. 1918), "Silver", published 1963. [satb chorus a cappella] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Arthur Shepherd (1880 - 1958), "Slowly, silently, now the moon" [SSA chorus and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Roger Smalley (b. 1943), "Silver", 1961, rev. 1970-1 [mezzo-soprano or soprano and piano], from Three Songs, no. 1. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Edwin M. Smith (b. 1938), "Silver", published 1951. [SSA chorus and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "Silver", 1999 [mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano], from Silvery Songs, no. 2. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by William S. Vosper (b. 1932), "Silver", 1955. [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Vally Weigl, née Pick (c1894 - 1982), "Silver" [medium voice, recorder, and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Douglas Young (b. 1947), "Silver", 1967, published 1973, rev. 1969 [soprano, speaker (male), chamber orchestra], cantata: ; note: choreographed for ballet in 1969 by Geoffrey Cawley [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Douglas William Alfred Zanders (b. 1918), "Silver", 1952. [satb chorus a cappella] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Der Mond, er wandert still, bedacht

Der Mond, er wandert still, bedacht
in Silberschuhen durch die Nacht,
Mal hier, mal dort sein Auge sucht
auf Silberbäumen Silberfrucht;
die Fenster fangen nach und nach
die Strahlen ein vom Silberdach;
tief schläft der Hund in seinem Haus,
zwei Silberpfoten schaun heraus;


die Zwergmaus huscht, ist kaum zu sehn,
mit Silberauge, Silberzeh'n;
reglos der Fisch im Wasser glänzt,
silbernes Schilf an den Silberstrom grenzt.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
  
  Bertram Kottmann. Contact:
  <BKottmann (AT) t-online.de>
  
  
  If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
  
  (licenses at lieder dot net)
  
  
  
  

• a text in English by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Silver", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 7. Earth and Air, no. 4, first published 1913 FRE
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Violet Balestreri Archer, Gary Bachlund, Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir, Benjamin Britten, Walter Joseph Buczynski, Arthur Butterworth, John Woods Duke, John Emeléus, Harry Farjeon, Hans Gál, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Harold Walter Greenhill, Colin Hand, Victor Harris, Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson, Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford, Elaine Hugh-Jones, John G. Koch, Anthony Francis Dominic Milner, Reginald Redman, Annetta Rosser, Neil Saunders, Arthur Shepherd, Roger Smalley, Edwin M. Smith, Rick Sowash, William S. Vosper, Vally Weigl, née Pick, Douglas Young, Douglas William Alfred Zanders. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2013-11-09.
Last modified: 2017-10-19 22:16:07
Line count: 12
Word count: 65