by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956)
Vigil
Language: English
Dark is the night, The fire burns faint and low, Hours -- days -- years, Into grey ashes go; I strive to read, But sombre is the glow. Thumbed are the pages, And the print is small; Mocking the winds That from the darkness call; Feeble the fire that lends Its light withal. O ghost, draw nearer; Let thy shadowy hair Blot out the pages That we cannot share; Be ours the one last leaf By Fate left bare! Let's Finis scrawl, And then Life's book put by; Turn each to each In all simplicity: Ere the last flame is gone To warm us by.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Vigil", appears in Motley and Other Poems, first published 1918 [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Vigil", published 1969 [ voice and piano ], from Tit for tat, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vetlla", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Veille", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wache", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 103