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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

In clouds descending, in midnight sleep
Language: English 
In clouds descending, in midnight sleep, of many a face of anguish,
Of the look at first of the mortally wounded—of that indescribable look;
Of the dead on their backs, with arms extended wide,
   I dream, I dream, I dream.

Of scenes of nature, the fields and the mountains;
Of the skies, so beauteous after the storm — and at night the moon so unearthly bright,
Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps,
   I dream, I dream, I dream.

Long have they pass'd, long lapsed—faces and trenches and fields;
Long through the carnage I moved with a callous composure — or away from the fallen,
Onward I sped at the time—But now of their forms at night,
   I dream, I dream, I dream.

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "In clouds descending, in midnight sleep", appears in Leaves of Grass [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), "In clouds descending, in midnight sleep", op. 294 no. 2 (2019) [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder nach Walt Whitman, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 129

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