Murmur, gentle lyre
Language: English
Murmur, gentle lyre, Thro' the lonely night; Let thy trembling wire Waken dear delight. Tho' the tones of sorrow Mingle in the strain, Yet my heart can borrow Pleasure from the pain. Hark, the quiv'ring breezes List thy silv'ry sound; Ev'ry tumult ceases! Silence reigns profound. Hush the thousand voices! Gone the noonday glare! Gentle spirit voices Stir the midnight air. Earth below is sleeping, Meadow, hill, and grove; Angel stars are keeping Silent watch above.
Note: This text appears in the Silcher score as an English alternative to the song's German words but it is not even remotely faithful to the German original.
Text Authorship:
- by Francis L. Soper , "Murmur, gentle lyre", appears in Sixty melodies for youth, for two, three, and four voices, composed by Silcher, adapted to English words, for the use of schools and singing classes, first published 1850 [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked 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 (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Murmur, gentle lyre", published 1842, from Zwölf Kinderlieder für Schule und Haus, von Ernst Moritz Arndt, Agnes Franz, Fr. Güll, Hölty, Wilh. Müller, Christoph Schmid, K.W. Wiedenfeld etc. zwei- und dreistimmig, no. 1, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2004-12-29
Line count: 20
Word count: 76