by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900)
Strange grows the river on the sunless...
Language: English
Strange grows the river on the sunless evenings! The river comforts me, grown spectral, vague and dumb: Long was the day; at last the consoling shadows come: Sufficient for the day are the day's evil things! Labour and longing and despair the long day brings; Patient till evening men watch the sun go west; Deferred, expected night at last brings sleep and rest: Sufficient for the day are the day's evil things! At last the tranquil Angelus of evening rings Night's curtain down for comfort and oblivion Of all the vanities observed by the sun: Sufficient for the day are the day's evil things! So, some time, when the last of all our evenings Crowneth memorially the last of all our days, Not loth to take his poppies man goes down and says, "Sufficient for the day were the day's evil things!"
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Text Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Vesperal" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Evening", op. 71 no. 2, published 1910 [ voice and piano ], London : Elkin ; a revision of Vesperal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Vesperal", 1900 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-05-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 115