by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)
The City and the Sea
Language: English
The panting City cried to the Sea, "I am faint with heat,--O breathe on me!" And the Sea said, "Lo, I breathe! but my breath To some will be life, to others death!" As to Prometheus, bringing ease In pain, come the Oceanides, So to the City, hot with the flame Of the pitiless sun, the east wind came. It came from the heaving breast of the deep, Silent as dreams are, and sudden as sleep. Life-giving, death-giving, which will it be; O breath of the merciful, merciless Sea?
Authorship:
- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The City and the Sea" [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 Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "The City and the Sea", op. 150 no. 2 (2008) [ baritone and piano ], from Elf Lieder nach Henry W. Longfellow, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 89