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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Vanishing Whispers
Language: English 
Hawksbill Turtle; ancient mariner; guardian of the reefs in nearly every oceans.
Amur Leopard; the wild spirit of Siberian forests; fading from the frozen east.

Saola; mystical presence; a living myth of Vietnam’s shrouded highlands.

Western Lowland Gorilla; gentle giant; monarch of the Congo’s dense undergrowth.
Eastern Lowland Gorilla; tranquil clans of kindred souls; 
home torn for minerals serving technology’s bright lights.
Cross River Gorilla; sacred guardian of Cameroon’s forests; just 25 souls remain.

Sumatran Rhino; a voice that carries, deep and strong; weaver of tales with verdant strands.*
Sumatran Tiger; apex predator; stripéd symbol of wilderness and majesty.
Sumatran Elephant; cultural icon of might; colossal nomad of the shrinking wilderness.
Sumatran Orangutan; arboreal heart of the island; facing the twilight of its realm.
Bornean Orangutan; the wise old one of the jungle; contemplating the vanishing tropics.

Tapanuli Orangutan; philosopher kin; elder of the forested realms.

African forest elephant; sovereign of the silent grove; icon of ancestral memory.

Vaquita; fragile wraith of the gulf; entangled in nets not meant for them.

Yangtze Finless Porpoise; the joyful “river piglet”; casualty of the currents of humanity’s progress.

View original text (without footnotes)
* In reference to how the Sumatran Rhino is the most vocal of all rhinoceros species as well as its practice of communicating by twisting tree saplings into patterns.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Joshua Shank (b. 1980), "Vanishing Whispers", first performed 2024 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 186

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