by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930)
The storm is over, the land hushes to...
Language: English
The storm is over, the land hushes to rest: The tyrannous wind, its strength fordone, Is fallen back in the west To couch with the sinking sun. The last clouds fare With fainting speed, and their thin streamers fly In melting drifts of the sky. Already the birds in the air Appear again ; the rooks return to their haunt, And one by one, Proclaiming aloud their care, Renew their peaceful chant. Torn and shattered trees their branches again reset, They trim afresh the fair Few green and golden leaves withheld from the storm, And awhile will be handsome yet. To-morrow's sun shall caress Their remnant of loveliness: In quiet days for a time Sad Autumn lingering warm Shall humour their faded prime. But ah ! the leaves of summer that lie on the ground ! What havoc! The laughing timbrels of June, That curtained the birds' cradles, and screened their song, That sheltered the cooing doves at noon, Of airy fans the delicate throng, -- Torn and scattered around: Far out afield they lie, In the watery furrows die, In grassy pools of the flood they sink and drown, Green-golden, orange, vermilion, golden and brown, The high year's flaunting crown Shattered and trampled down. The day is done: the tired land looks for night: She prays to the night to keep In peace her nerves of delight: While silver mist upstealeth silently, And the broad cloud-driving moon in the clear sky Lifts o'er the firs her shining shield, And in her tranquil light Sleep falls on forest and field. See! sleep hath fallen: the trees are asleep: The night is come. The land is wrapt in sleep.
H. Gál sets lines 1-7, 34-43
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Text Authorship:
- by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930), no title, appears in The Shorter Poems of Robert Bridges, first published 1890 [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 Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Sunset", op. 77 no. 8 (1951), published 1960, lines 1-7,34-43 [soprano or mezzo-soprano solo, three-part women's chorus, and strings], from Of a Summer Day, no. 8, Association of American Choruses, Philadelphia [ sung text verified 1 time]
- by David W. Maves (b. 1937), "The storm is over", copyright © 1968. [SATB chorus and orchestra or piano] [ sung text not verified ]
- by Robin Humphrey Milford (1903 - 1959), "The storm is over", published 1946 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Autumn and Spring [ sung text not verified ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-04
Line count: 43
Word count: 275