by Evelyn Scott (1893 - 1963)
The thin hill pushes against the mist
Language: English
The thin hill pushes against the mist.
Its fading defiance sounds in the umber and red of autumn leaves.
Like a dead arm around a warm throat
Is the sagging embrace of the river
Laid grayly about the shore.
The train passes.
We emerge from a tunnel into a sky of thin blue morning glories
Where yellow lily bells tinkle down.
The paths run swiftly away under the lamp glow
Like green and blue lizards
Mottled with light.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Evelyn Scott, Precipitations, The Project Gutenberg, 2003
Text Authorship:
- by Evelyn Scott (1893 - 1963), "Startled Forests: Hudson River", appears in Precipitations, first published 1920, copyright status unknown [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 Rachel Devore Fogarty , "Startled Forests", 2017 [ mezzo-soprano, flute and harp ], from Manhattan: The Unpeopled City and Crowds, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-08
Line count: 11
Word count: 79