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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.
      • Go to the text.

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

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