Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I...

Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I hear,
Labial gossip of night, sibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascending, mystical breezes wafted soft and low,
Ripples of unseen rivers, tides of a current flowing, forever flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)

I see, just see skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With at times a half-dimm'd sadden'd far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.

(Some parturition rather, some solemn immortal birth;
On the frontiers to eyes impenetrable,
Some soul is passing over.)

Translation(s): CAT FRE FRE

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Whispers of Heavenly Death", appears in Leaves of Grass [ 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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Whispers of heavenly death", alternate title: "Whispers", c1927, published 1930 [voice and piano], from Songs at Parting: A Selection of Walt Whitman's Poems, no. 7. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "On the frontier" [mezzo-soprano and piano] [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Eugene MacDonald Bonner (1889 - 1983), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1925 [voice and piano or orchestra], from Whispers of Heavenly Death, also set in French (Français) [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Leonard Kastle (b. 1929), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1956. [SATB chorus and piano ad libitum] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Raymond Luedeke , "Whispers of heavenly death", 1974. [duet for 2 sopranos with piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Nocturne", 1925?, published 1925 [voice and piano], from Three Poems by Walt Whitman, no. 1. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by David McKinley Williams (1887 - 1978), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1934 [alto, mixed chorus, and organ or orchestra], anthem [
   text not verified 
  ]

Settings in other languages or adaptations:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon Bazalgette CAT by Eugene MacDonald Bonner.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Other available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2004-06-27.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:08
Line count: 12
Word count: 90

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Sento el murmuri d’una mort celestial...

Sento el murmuri d’una mort celestial xiuxiuejant,
labial xerrameca de la nit, corals sibilants,
passes que pugen a poc a poc, ventijols místics flotant suaument i baix,
ones de rius invisibles, marees d’un corrent que flueix, flueix eternament,
(O és potser el xipolleig de llàgrimes? Les immensurables aigües de llàgrimes humanes?

Veig, veig just al cel, grans masses de núvols,
es mouen trista i lentament, creixent i barrejant-se en silenci
amb una estrella llunyana mig somorta, entristida, adesiara
apareixent i desapareixent.

(Més aviat una parturició, una naixença solemne i immortal;
als límits impenetrables per als ulls,
una ànima passa pel damunt.)

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About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  
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• a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Whispers of Heavenly Death", appears in Leaves of Grass FRE FRE
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Ernst Bacon, Eugene MacDonald Bonner, Leonard Kastle, Raymond Luedeke, Ralph Vaughan Williams, David McKinley Williams. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2016-02-11.
Last modified: 2016-02-11 18:00:01
Line count: 12
Word count: 101