The windmill | Behold! a giant am I!

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

The windmill

Language: English

Behold! a giant am I!
  Aloft here in my tower,
  With my granite jaws I devour
The maize, and the wheat, and the rye,
  And grind them into flour. 

I look down over the farms;
  In the fields of grain I see
  The harvest that is to be,
And I fling to the air my arms,
  For I know it is all for me. 

I hear the sound of flails
  Far off, from the threshing-floors
  In barns, with their open doors,
And the wind, the wind in my sails,
  Louder and louder roars. 

I stand here in my place,
  With my foot on the rock below,
  And whichever way it may blow,
I meet it face to face,
  As a brave man meets his foe. 

And while we wrestle and strive,
  My master, the miller, stands
  And feeds me with his hands;
For he knows who makes him thrive,
  Who makes him lord of lands. 

On Sundays I take my rest;
  Church-going bells begin
  Their low, melodious din;
I cross my arms on my breast,
  And all is peace within.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• R. Stöhr

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The windmill", first published 1880 [author's text checked 1 time 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 James Lyon (1872 - 1949), "The windmill", op. 85 no. 6, published 1926 [ partsong for SA chorus or SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "The windmill", op. 150 no. 10 (2008) [ baritone and piano ], from Elf Lieder nach Henry W. Longfellow, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
by Herbert H. Nelson , "The windmill", published 1897 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Frederick A. Ogilvy , "The windmill", published 1933 [ partsong for SCTB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by George Rathbone (1874 - ?), "The windmill", published 1936 [ unison chorus and piano ], school song [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967), "The Windmill", op. 104a (Ten Songs) no. 2 (1944), published 2015 [ voice and piano ], unpublished; manuscript at Saint Michael's College Archives and available in scanned form at the Petrucci Music Library [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gustavius Tuckerman , "The windmill", published 1885 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-25
Line count: 30
Word count: 180