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.
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