3 Songs to words by Walt Whitman

Song Cycle by Harry Somers (b. 1925)

1. Look down fair moon [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

Look down, fair moon and bathe this scene,
Pour softly down night's nimbus floods, on faces ghastly, swollen, purple;
On the dead, on their backs, with [their]¹ arms toss'd wide,
Pour down your unstinted nimbus, sacred moon.

Text Authorship:

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Look down, fair moon", appears in Drum Taps, first published 1965

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Confirmed with Drum-Taps, ed. by Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price, The Walt Whitman Archive

¹ omitted by Rands.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

2. After the dazzle of day [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

After the dazzle of day is gone,
Only the dark, dark night shows to my eyes the stars;
After the clangor of organ majestic, or chorus, or perfect band,
Silent, athwart my soul, moves the symphony true.

Text Authorship:

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. A clear midnight [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death, and the stars.

Text Authorship:

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A clear midnight"

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

Portions of this text were used in Idyll by Frederick Delius.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Total word count: 117