The keen stars were twinkling
 And the fair moon was rising among them,
           Dear Jane:
      The [guitar]1 was tinkling,
 But the notes were not [sweet]2 till you [sung]3 them
           Again.
      As the moon's soft splendor
 O'er the faint cold starlight of heaven
           Is thrown,
      So your voice most tender
 To the strings without soul had then given
           Its own.

      The stars will awaken,
 Though the moon sleep a full hour later,
           Tonight;
      No leaf will be shaken
 Whilst the dews of your melody scatter
           Delight.
      Though the sound overpowers,
 Sing again, with your dear voice revealing
           A tone
      Of some world far from ours
 Where music and moonlight and feeling
           Are one.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: The Trelawny manuscript is headed "To Jane"
¹ Faith: "harp"
² Faith: "clear"
³ Faith: "sang"

Text Authorship:

• by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "To -----", first published 1839 [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 George John Bennett (1863 - 1930), "To Jane", published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Twelve Songs Set to Poems of Shelley and Rossetti, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Bruce Faith (b. 1926), "The keen stars were twinkling" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Music and moonlight", 1935, published 1935 [ voice and piano ], Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "To Jane" [sung text not yet checked]

Set in a modified version by Juriaan Andriessen, Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir, Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Gilbert Richard Betjemann, Herman Brearly, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Edward Elgar, Sir.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ] CZE
  

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by George John Bennett.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 116