Before the battle | Music of whispering trees

by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886 - 1967)

Before the battle

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

Music of whispering trees
Hushed by a broad-winged breeze
Where shaken water gleams;
And evening radiance falling
With reedy bird-notes calling.
O bear me safe through dark, you low-voiced streams.
  
I have no need to pray
That fear may pass away;
I scorn the growl and rumble of the fight
That summons me from cool
Silence of marsh and pool
And yellow lilies is landed in light
O river of stars and shadows, lead me through the night.

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Confirmed with Siegfried Sassoon, THE OLD HUNTSMAN and other poems, William Heinemann, London, 1918, page 75

Text Authorship:

by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886 - 1967), "Before the battle", written 1916, appears in The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, first published 1917 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Harold Blumenfeld (b. 1923), "Before the battle", published 1971 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Songs of War [sung text not yet checked]
by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "Before the battle" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-10-19
Line count: 13
Word count: 78