by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)
The Lake At Evening
Language: English
Clouds, lingering yet, extend in solid bars Through the grey west; and lo! These waters, steeled By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield A vivid repetition of the stars; Jove, Venus and the ruddy crest of Mars Amid his fellows beauteously revealed At happy distance from earth's groaning field, Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars. Is it a mirror? -- or the nether Sphere Opening to view the abyss in which she feeds Her own calm fires? -- But [list]1! a voice is near; Great Pan himself low-whispering through the reeds, 'Be thankful, thou; for, if unholy deeds Ravage the world, tranquility is here!'
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Argento: "listen"
Researcher for this page: Ton van der Steenhoven
1 Argento: "listen"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Dominick Argento (1927 - 2019), "The Lake At Evening", 1973 [soprano or tenor, clarinet or bass clarinet, and piano], from To be sung upon the water, no. 2. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ton van der Steenhoven
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 103