by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
The sea is fleck'd with bars of gray
Language: English
The sea is fleck'd with bars of gray, The dull dead wind is out of tune, And like a wither'd leaf the moon Is blown across the stormy bay. Etched clear upon the pallid sand The black boat lies: a sailor boy Clambers aboard in careless joy, With laughing face and gleaming hand. And overhead the curlews cry, Where through the dusky upland grass The young brown-throated reapers pass, Like silhouettes against the sky.
About the headline (FAQ)
Appeared in Pan, April 1881, as one of Impressions.
Text Authorship:
- by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Les Silhouettes" [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 Richard James Brooks (b. 1942), "Les Silhouettes", 2009, first performed 2009 [ high voice and piano ], from Impressions, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "Les Silhouettes", published 1913 [ medium voice and piano ], from Four Songs for a Medium Voice, no. 1, New York, London, Boston : G. Schirmer; note: arranged 1943 for voice and orchestra [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Harold Vincent Jervis-Read (1883 - 1945), "The Silhouettes" [ voice and piano ], from Four Impressions, no. 2, Ascherberg & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Morris (b. 1964), "Les Silhouettes", 2002 [ mezzo-soprano, piano, violin ad libitum ], from Impressions, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gordon Balch Nevin (1892 - 1943), "Silhouettes", published 1936 [ 2 sopranos and alto ], Gamble Hinged Music Co., Chicago [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nicolas Slonimsky (1894 - 1995), "Silhouettes", published 1927 [ soprano and piano ], from Impressions, 2 songs for soprano and piano, no. 1, White-Smith Music Publishing Co., New York [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Arie Gijsbert Schuyer.
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: 74