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by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956)

The Vacant Day
Language: English 
As I walked out in meadows green
I heard the summer moon resound
With call of myriad things unseen
That leapt and crept upon the ground.

High overhead the windless air
Throbbed with the homesick coursing cry
Of swifts that ranging everywhere
Woke echo in the sky.

Beside me, too, clear waters coursed
Which willow branches, leaping low,
Breaking their crystal gliding forced
to sing as they did flow.

I listened; and my heart was dumb
With praise no language could express;
Longing in vain for him to come
Who had breathed such blessedness.

On this fair world, wherein we pass
So chequered and so brief a stay;
And yearned in spirit to learn, alas,
What kept him still away.

Text Authorship:

  • by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956) [author's text not yet checked 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 John Bartlett (b. 1949), "The Vacant Day", 1983 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: John Bartlett

This text was added to the website: 2024-03-04
Line count: 20
Word count: 120

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