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by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)

A floating, a floating
Language: English 
A floating, a floating
Across the sleeping sea,
All night I heard a singing bird
Upon the topmost tree.

'Oh came you off the isles of Greece,
Or off the banks of Seine;
Or off some tree in forests free,
Which fringe the western main?'

'I came not off the old world
Nor yet from off the new—
But I am one of the birds of God
Which sing the whole night through.'

'Oh sing, and wake the dawning—
Oh whistle for the wind;
The night is long, the current strong,
My boat it lags behind.'

'The current sweeps the old world,
The current sweeps the new;
The wind will blow, the dawn will glow
Ere thou hast sailed them through.'

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875), "The Night Bird: A Myth", written 1848 [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 Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "The Night Bird", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Love in Spring-Time, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-02-11
Line count: 20
Word count: 122

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