Song -- The owl | The owl | When cats run home and light is come

When cats run home and light is come

Language: English

Available translation(s): GER

When cats run home and light is come
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his round-e-lay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), "Song -- The owl", appears in Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, first published 1830 [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 Herbert Kennedy Andrews (1904 - 1965), "When cats run home", published 1945 [ high voice and piano ], from Two Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Johan Backer-Lunde (1874 - 1958), "The owl", op. 42 no. 2 [ voice and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Seymour Barab (1921 - 2014), "The owl", copyright © 1979 [ soprano or tenor, recorder, and guitar ], from Bagatelles, no. 7, New York : Galaxy Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "The owl", published 1966 [ voice or unison chorus and piano ], from The Aviary, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Richard Bexfield (1824 - 1853), "The owl", published 1881 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by A. (Alfred or Arthur?) Herbert Brewer (1865 - 1928), "When cats run home", published 1927 [ SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Alan Bullard (b. 1947), "The owl", 1985, first performed 1985 [ baritone and piano ], from Three Bird Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Bullock, Sir (1890 - 1979), "When cats run home", published 1961 [ SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "The owl", published 1962 [ SAB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Chapple , "The owl", published 1928 [ SS chorus or SA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "The owl", 1909? [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arnold Atkinson Cooke (1906 - 2005), "The owl", 1956, published 1963 [ soprano or tenor, horn, and piano ], from Nocturnes, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1877 - 1946), "The owl", published 1915 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Theodora Dutton , "To the owl", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Montague Edmunds (1899 - 1990), "The owl", published 1930 [ SS chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Nicolas Flagello (b. 1928), "The owl", published 1964 [ bass-baritone and chamber orchestra or piano ], from The Land [sung text not yet checked]
by Percival Garratt (1877 - 1953), "The owl", published 1923 [ 2-part chorus of medium-high voices and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by R. A. Gatty , "The owl", published 1869 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert (1868 - 1928), "The owl", published 1910 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Groocock , "The owl", published c1953 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Marjorie Helyer , "When cats run home", published 1957 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Francis Alan Jackson (b. 1917), "The owl", published 1949 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob (1895 - 1984), "When cats run home", published 1938 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Roger Parks Jones (b. 1944), "The white owl" [ SATB chorus and instrumental ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Lavater (1867 - 1953), "The white owl", published 1933 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Cuthbert Edward Osmond (1904 - 1937), "The owl", published 1948 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "The owl", published 1909 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Montague Fawcett Phillips (1885 - 1969), "The owl", published 1939 [ SS chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "The white owl", published 1875 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Arthur John Pritchard , "When cats run home", published 1947 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Daniel Protheroe (1866 - 1934), "The owl", published 1917 [ voices and piano ], from Fifth Year Music [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Owl", op. 113 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by J. W. Sidebotham , "The owl", published <<1892 [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Edward Silas (1827 - 1909), "The owl", published 1867 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Harold Hinchcliffe Sykes , "The owl", published 1966 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Eric Harding Thiman (1900 - 1975), "When cats run home", published 1930 [ 2-part chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Vally Weigl, née Pick (c1894 - 1982), "The owl", published 1962-3 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs for a child [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karoline (or Caroline) Wilhelmine Leonhardt (1811 - 1899) ; composed by Henry Hugo Pierson.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

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: 78

Help us stay free of annoying ads