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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
Translation by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912)

The cold earth slept below
Language: English 
The cold earth slept below,
Above the cold sky shone;
And all around, with a chilling sound,
From caves of ice and fields of snow,
The breath of night like death did flow 
Beneath the sinking moon.

The wintry hedge was black,
The green grass was not seen,
The birds did rest on the bare thorn's breast,
Whose roots, beside the pathway track, 
Had bound their folds o'er many a crack
Which the frost had made between.

Thine eyes glowed in the glare
Of the moon's dying light;
As a fen-fire's beam on a sluggish stream 
Gleams dimly, so the moon shone there,
And it yellowed the strings of thy raven hair,
That shook in the wind of night.

The moon made thy lips pale, beloved --
The wind made thy bosom chill --
The night did shed on thy dear head
Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie
Where the bitter breath of the naked sky
Might visit thee at will.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Lines" [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 Carson Atlas (b. 2001), "The cold earth slept below" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by (Robert) Houston Bright (1916 - 1970), "Winter night on the mountain", published 1964 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Sloky (Shelley 1)"


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-02-23
Line count: 24
Word count: 160

Sloky (Shelley 1)
Language: Czech (Čeština)  after the English 
Dole spala chladná zem;
jiskřilo se chladné nebe výš’,
        ve ostrý vzduch
        zněl šeptavý ruch,
ze slují ledů, ze sněhu sem
dech noci, smrt jak v šeptu svém
    táh’ pod lunou mroucí blíž.

Keře černé po stranách,
nikde stopy travných řas
        neviděl zrak,
        na trn holý slét pták,
na trn, jenž mnohý kořen vztáh’
a paží svou v cesty rýhy sáh’,
    jež otevřel mráz.

Planul tvojich očí svit
v měsíci, jenž zvolna mřel,
        bludičky skok
        tak v líný sjel tok
prchavým leskem — tak byl luny třpyt
v žluť zbarvil vlas tvůj, kam se chyt’,
    když v nočním větru se chvěl.

Lunou, drahá, zbled’ ti ret;
ňadry zachvěl větru dech;
        Duch noci střás’
        tříšť rosy na tvůj drahý vlas
a ty jsi natažena klesla zpět,
s nahého nebe hořkých větrů let
    kdy chtěl, si k tobě leh’.

Confirmed with SHELLEY, P. B. Výbor lyriky, translated by Jaroslav Vrchlický, Praha: J. Otto, 1901, pages 18-19.


Text Authorship:

  • by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912), "Sloky (Shelley 1)" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Lines"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-25
Line count: 28
Word count: 137

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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