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The infinite shining heavens Rose, and I saw in the night Uncountable angel stars Showering sorrow and light. I saw them distant as heaven, Dumb and shining and dead, And the idle stars of the night Were dearer to me than bread. Night after night in my sorrow The stars [stood]1 over the sea, Till lo! I looked in the dusk And a star had come down to me.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Vaughan Williams: "looked"
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), no title, appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 6 [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 Samuel C. Colburn , "The infinite shining heavens", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The infinite shining heavens", 1904, published 1907, orchestrated 1962 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Travel, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Els cels infinits i resplendents", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "I cieli splendenti e infiniti", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , "Spindįs begalinis dangus", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
I cieli splendenti e infiniti Si sono levati, e nella notte ho visto Innumerevoli angeliche stelle Che spargono luce e tristezza. Le ho visto come il cielo lontane, mute e splendenti e insensibili, e le immobili stelle notturne mi erano più care del pane. Per notti e notti, nella mia tristezza, Le stelle stavano sospese sul mare, fin quando, ecco! Ho scrutato nel crepuscolo e una stella verso di me è discesa.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2008 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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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Based on:
- a text in English by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), no title, appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 6
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 72