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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

The Cloud
 (Sung text for setting by E. Covell)
 See original
Language: English 
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken 
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plain under, 
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

 ... 

That orbed maiden with white fire laden, 
Whom mortals call the Moon,
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear, 
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof.
The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,
Like a swarm of golden bees.
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent, 
Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.

Composition:

    Set to music by Elizabeth Covell , "The Cloud", stanzas 1,4 [ voice and piano ], unpublished

Text Authorship:

  • by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "The cloud", first published 1820

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Mrak"


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-28
Line count: 84
Word count: 605

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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