Sea slumber song | Sea-birds are asleep

by Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel (1834 - 1894)

Sea slumber song

Language: English

Available translation(s): CAT GER ITA

Sea-birds are asleep,
The world forgets to weep,
Sea murmurs her soft slumber-song
On the shadowy sand
Of this elfin land;
"I, the Mother mild, 
Hush thee, O my child,
Forget the voices wild!
Isles in elfin light
Dream, the rocks and caves,
Lull'd by whispering waves,
Veil their marbles bright.
Foam glimmers faintly white
Upon the shelly sand
Of this elfin land;
Sea-sound, like violins,
To slumber woos and wins,
I murmur my soft slumber-song,
Leave woes, and wails, and sins,
Ocean's shadowy might
Breathes good night,
  Good night!"

Confirmed with Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895, Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1895, Bartleby.com, 2003. www.bartleby.com/246/474.html.

Authorship:

by Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel (1834 - 1894), "Sea slumber-song" [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 Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Sea slumber song ", op. 37 no. 1, first performed 1899, from Sea Pictures, no. 1. [
text verified 1 time
]

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 90

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