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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Scherzo ‑ The Waves
 (Sung text for setting by R. Vaughan Williams)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
After the sea-ship, after the whistling winds,
After the white-gray sails taut to their spars and ropes,
Below, a myriad myriad waves hastening, lifting up their necks,
Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship,
Waves of the ocean bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,
Waves, undulating waves, liquid, uneven, emulous waves,
Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves,
Where the great vessel sailing and tacking displaced the surface,
Larger and smaller waves in the spread of the ocean yearnfully flowing,
The wake of the sea-ship after she passes, flashing and frolicsome under the sun,
A motley procession with many a fleck of foam and many fragments,
Following the stately and rapid ship, in the wake following.

Composition:

    Set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Scherzo - The Waves", published 1909 [ chorus, soprano and baritone, orchestra ], from A Sea Symphony, no. 3

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "After the Sea-Ship"

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Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail

This text was added to the website: 2004-07-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 120

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