A dream | Once a dream did weave a shade

Once a dream did weave a shade

Language: English

Our translations: CHI RUS

Once a dream did weave a shade
O'er my angel-guarded bed,
That an emmet lost its way
Where on grass methought I lay.

Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
Over many a tangle spray,
All heart-broke, I heard her say:

"Oh my children! do they cry,
Do they hear their father sigh?
Now they look abroad to see,
Now return and weep for me."

Pitying, I dropped a tear:
But I saw a glow-worm near,
Who replied, "What wailing wight
Calls the watchman of the night?

"I am set to light the ground,
While the beetle goes his round:
Follow now the beetle's hum;
Little wanderer, hie thee home!"

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A dream", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 18, first published 1789 [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 William Bolcom (b. 1938), "A Dream", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "The dream", 1914?, published c1922 [ SSA trio with piano ], London : Augener [sung text not yet checked]
by (Henry) Elliot Button (1861 - ?), "A dream", published 1892, from Songs of Innocence, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Vincent Henry Palmer Caillard, Sir (1856 - 1930), "A dream", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from The Songs of Innocence of William Blake, no. 18, London : Novello, Ewer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Elyse Donathan Curtis (b. 1929), "A dream", c1974, first performed 1974 [ medium voice, chorus, and piano ], from Nine Songs of William Blake, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "A dream", op. 27b no. 17 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 17 [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "A dream", op. 130 no. 16 (1934), from Songs of Innocence, no. 16 [sung text not yet checked]
by Chester Edward Ide (1878 - 1944), "A dream", c1928 [ vocal duet for treble voices a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence -- Eight Poems by William Blake, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul A. Irby , "A dream", published c1928 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs of Innocence, no. 2, London, Wellington Music Publ. Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Daniel Kidane (b. 1986), "A Dream", first performed 2018 [ tenor and piano ], from Songs of Illumination, no. 1, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by André Laporte (b. 1931), "A dream", 1979, published c1983 [ SSSS chorus a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 2, Kontich, Belgium : De notenboom [sung text not yet checked]
by Joan Littlejohn (b. 1937), "A dream ", 1968 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Donald Patriquin (b. 1938), "A dream", 1984 [ SSAA chorus, harp, and flute ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Raskin (1928 - 1984), "A dream", published 1966 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 18, Garden City, NY : Doubleday [sung text not yet checked]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "A dream", op. 132 no. 5 (2001) [ speaker and tape ], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "A dream", 1948-50, rev. 1965 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 18, another version exists for voice, flute, and string quintet (composed 1966-71) [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "A dream", 1935-6, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "Dream", 1960 [ voice and piano ], from Song Cycle : On Children, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Brocklesby Wordsworth (1908 - 1988), "A dream", op. 35 no. 3 (1948) [ high voice and piano ], from Four Blake Songs, no. 3, Edinburgh : Scotus Music Publications [sung text not yet checked]

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

RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Сон", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 110