To Morning | O holy virgin! clad in purest white

O holy virgin! clad in purest white

Language: English

O holy virgin! clad in purest white,
Unlock heaven's golden gates, and issue forth;
Awake the dawn that sleeps in heaven; let light
Rise from the chambers of the east, and bring
The honey'd dew that cometh on waking day.
O radiant morning, salute the sun
Roused like a huntsman to the chase, and with
Thy buskin'd feet appear upon our hills.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Mitchell

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "To Morning" [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 Hugo Vernon Anson (1894 - 1958), "To Morning" [sung text not yet checked]
by Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921 - 2006), "O holy virgin", op. 66 no. 1 (1959), published 1966, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (1874 - 1946), "To Morning", published c1924, from Two Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "To Morning", published 1912 [ women's chorus a cappella ], from Three Blake Poems, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Henry Bell (1873 - 1946), "To Morning", 1940, from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "To Morning", 1966 [ chorus of alto and tenor or counter-tenor voices, alto flute, harp, piano, and viola ], from Morning and Evening Poems, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Montague Edmunds (1899 - 1990), "To Morning", published c1924 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], York (England) : Banks & Son [sung text not yet checked]
by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903 - 1939), "To Morning", published c1925 [ high voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 1, London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
by Felix Gethen (1916 - 2002), "To Morning", 1946 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962), "To Morning" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "To Morning", 1967, first performed 1968 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, and piano ], from Five Nocturnes, no. 5, first setting [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "To Morning", 1973, first performed 1973 [ SSA chorus and strings ], from Serenade, no. 3, second setting [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Lewin (1925 - 2008), "To Morning", published 1960, first performed 1961 [ soprano and chamber ensemble ], from Innocence and Experience, no. 1, New York, American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Harford Lloyd (1849 - 1919), "To Morning", published 1890 [ eight-part chorus a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "To morning", 1928, published 1952 [ high voice and piano ], New York, High Gate Press (Galaxy) [sung text not yet checked]
by James Lyon (1872 - 1949), "To Morning", op. 68 no. 1, published c1920 [ SSAA chorus a cappella ], London : Stainer & Bell [sung text not yet checked]
by William James Mathias (1934 - 1992), "To Morning", op. 82 no. 1 (1979), published c1987, first performed 1979 [ mezzo-soprano, celesta, harp, piano, and strings ], from Songs of William Blake, no. 1, Oxford : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "To Morning", op. 1 no. 1 (1964), rev. 1977, from Seven Songs from William Blake, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Laurence Powell (1899 - 1990), "To Morning", published c1941 [ women's chorus a cappella ], New York : Galaxy [sung text not yet checked]
by Winthrop L. Rogers , "To Morning", published c1915 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Poems by William Blake, no. 3, NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Michael Edward Rose (b. 1934), "To Morning", published c1970 [ tenor, SATB chorus, strings, piano duet, and percussion ], from cantata Summer Music, Borough Green, England : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Michael Spearing (b. 1950), "O holy virgin", 1976, first performed 1976 [ baritone, SATB chorus, and small orchestra ], from Visions of William Blake, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Norma Ruth Wendelburg (b. 1918), "To Morning", 1953 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs from William Blake, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "To Morning" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard M. Willis (b. 1929), "To Morning ", 1970 [ soprano, clarinet, percussion, and piano ], from Three Songs by Blake, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

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

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Jitru"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 65