Whispers of Heavenly Death | Whispers of heavenly death | Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I hear

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I...

Language: English

Our translations: CAT FRE

Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I hear,
Labial gossip of night, sibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascending, mystical breezes wafted soft and low,
Ripples of unseen rivers, tides of a current flowing, forever flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)

I see, just see skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With at times a half-dimm'd sadden'd far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.

(Some parturition rather, some solemn immortal birth;
On the frontiers to eyes impenetrable,
Some soul is passing over.)

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Text Authorship:

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Whispers of Heavenly Death", appears in Leaves of Grass [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Whispers of heavenly death", alternate title: "Whispers", c1927, published 1930 [ voice and piano ], from Songs at Parting: A Selection of Walt Whitman's Poems, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "On the frontier" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Eugene MacDonald Bonner (1889 - 1983), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1925 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Whispers of Heavenly Death, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Kastle (b. 1929), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1956 [ SATB chorus and piano ad libitum ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Raymond Luedeke , "Whispers of heavenly death", 1974 [ duet for 2 sopranos with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Nocturne", 1925?, published 1925 [ voice and piano ], from Three Poems by Walt Whitman, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by David McKinley Williams (1887 - 1978), "Whispers of heavenly death", published 1934 [ alto, mixed chorus, and organ or orchestra ], anthem [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon Bazalgette (1873 - 1928) ; composed by Eugene MacDonald Bonner.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail

This text was added to the website: 2004-06-27
Line count: 12
Word count: 90