by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)
She sleeps on soft, last breaths; but no...
Language: English
She sleeps on soft, last breaths; but no ghost looms Out of the stillness of her palace wall, Her wall of boys on boys and dooms on dooms. She dreams of golden gardens and sweet glooms, Not marvelling why her roses never fall Nor what red mouths were torn to make their blooms. The shades keep down which well might roam her hall. Quiet their blood lies in her crimson rooms And she is not afraid of their footfall. They move not from her tapestries, their pall, Nor pace her terraces, their hecatombs, Lest aught she be disturbed, or grieved at all.
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Text Authorship:
- by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918), "The kind ghosts", from Poems, first published 1931 [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), "She sleeps on soft, last breaths", op. 60 no. 6, published 1959 [tenor, string orchestra, English horn obbligato], from Nocturne for tenor solo, seven obligato instruments and string orchestra, no. 6. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Jean-Pierre Granger)
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , title 1: "Ella dorm amb suaus, incessants respirs", copyright © 2016, (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: 12
Word count: 102