Night | The sun descending in the west

The sun descending in the west

Language: English

The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest.
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.

Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
Where flocks have took delight:
Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
The feet of angels bright;
Unseen they pour blessing
And joy without ceasing
On each bud and blossom,
And each sleeping bosom.

They look in every thoughtless nest
Where birds are cover'd warm;
They visit caves of every beast,
To keep them all from harm:
If they see any weeping
That should have been sleeping,
They pour sleep on their head,
And sit down by their bed.

When wolves and tigers howl for prey,
They pitying stand and weep,
Seeking to drive their thirst away
And keep them from the sheep.
But, if they rush dreadful,
The angels, most heedful,
Receive each mild spirit,
New worlds to inherit.

And there the lion's ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold:
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold:
Saying, "Wrath, by His meekness,
And, by His health, sickness,
Are driven away
From our immortal day.

"And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
I can lie down and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee, and weep.
For, wash'd in life's river,
My bright mane for ever
Shall shine like the gold
As I guard o'er the fold."

B. Rands sets lines 5-8
A. Aronis sets stanzas 1-3
S. Lekberg sets stanza 2?
R. Augustyn sets stanza 1
R. Lane sets stanza 1 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
S. Wheeler sets stanzas 1-4

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Night", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 14, 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 Raymond G. Angel , "Night", published c1931, 1958 [ duet for treble voices ], London : Murdoch & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by (Thomas) Athanasios Aronis (b. 1935), "Night", stanzas 1-3, from Blake Song Cycle, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by James David Audlin (b. 1954), "Night", 1987 [ soprano, flute, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Rafal Augustyn (b. 1951), "Night", 1988, stanza 1 [ 2-part children's chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Edgar Leslie Bainton (1880 - 1956), "Night", published c1914 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Stainer & Bell, in Choral Library for Mixed Voices, no. 121 [sung text not yet checked]
by Christian Bänsch-Narnia (b. 1956), "Night" [ duet for 2 voices and 2 guitars ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Phillip Thomas Bezanson (1916 - 1975), "Night", published 1959, from Songs of Innocence, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Jacques (Jacob) Blumenthal (1829 - 1908), "Night", published 1878? [ SATB chorus ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "Night", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 17 [sung text not yet checked]
by Harry Brook (1893 - ?), "Night", published c1929 [ unison chorus and piano ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by (Henry) Elliot Button (1861 - ?), "Night", published 1892, from Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Vincent Henry Palmer Caillard, Sir (1856 - 1930), "Night", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from The Songs of Innocence of William Blake, no. 14, London : Novello, Ewer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Ann Marie Callaway (b. 1949), "Night Patterns", 1973 [ coloratura soprano, clarinet, percussion, 2 violins, 2 cellos, contrabass ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur George Colborn (b. 1869), "Night", published 1918 [ mixed chorus ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
by Elyse Donathan Curtis (b. 1929), "Night", c1974, first performed 1974 [ medium voice, chorus, and piano ], from Nine Songs of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Daunton , "Night", published 1967 [ SB chorus and piano ], London: Schott; New York: Associated Music Publishers [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Mills Delaney (1903 - 1956), "Night", published c1934 [ mixed chorus and piano or string quartet ], Boston, E. C. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Percy Eastman Fletcher (1879 - 1932), "Evening song", published c1926 [ 2-part girls' or boys' chorus and piano ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Robin Frost (b. 1930), "Night", 1972 [ three-part junior chorus and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "Night", op. 27b no. 13 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
by Geoffrey Gwyther , "Night", published 1917 [ medium voice and piano ], from Seven Poems from Blake's "Songs of Innocence", no. 7, London, The Poetry Bookshop [sung text not yet checked]
by Kenneth Harding (1903 - 1992), "The sun descending", first performed 1944 [ baritone, chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "Night", op. 130 no. 15 (1934), from Songs of Innocence, no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
by Chester Edward Ide (1878 - 1944), "Night", c1928 [ vocal duet for treble voices a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence -- Eight Poems by William Blake, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ben Johnston (b. 1926), "Night", 1975 [ soprano, clarinet, oboe, flute, viola, and contrabass ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Theron Kirk (1919 - 1999), "Night", published c1974 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four William Blake Songs, no. 2, Park Ridge, IL : Pallma Music Co. (Kjos) [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Night ", 1967, first performed 1968 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, and piano ], from Five Nocturnes, no. 1, first setting [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Night ", 1977, first performed 1977, stanza 1 [ baritone and piano ], third setting [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Night", 1973, first performed 1973 [ SSA chorus and strings ], from Serenade, no. 2, second setting [sung text not yet checked]
by Sven Lekberg (1899 - 1984), "Farewell, green fields and happy groves", published c1971, stanza 2? [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], New York, G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Lewin (1925 - 2008), "Night", published 1960, first performed 1961 [ soprano and chamber ensemble ], from Innocence and Experience, no. 9, New York, American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
by Samuel Ernest Lovatt (1877 - 1954), "Night ", published c1920 [ children's chorus and (adult) chorus ], Glasgow : Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
by Louise Maynard , "Night ", published c1926 [ three-part women's chorus ], Chicago : Clayton F. Summy Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by George C. Palmer (1879 - 1968), "The sun descending" [ women's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Malcolm Cameron Peyton (b. 1932), "Night ", 1961 [ chorus and organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Prendergast (flourished 1896-1933), "Night", published c1897 [ duet for 2 equal voices with piano ], from Three Vocal Duets for Equal Voices, no. 2, London : Paterson & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
by Bernard Rands (b. 1934), "The moon", published 1980, first performed 1981, lines 5-8 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Canti lunatici, no. 6, London : Universal Edition [sung text checked 1 time]
by Juliet Raphael , "Night", published c1927, from Madrigal and Minstrelsy, New York : Albert & Charles Boni [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Raskin (1928 - 1984), "Night", published 1966 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 14, Garden City, NY : Doubleday [sung text not yet checked]
by Walter Skolnik (b. 1934), "Night ", published c1977 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], NY : Lawson-Gould (Cherry Lane Music) [sung text not yet checked]
by William Marion Smith , "Night", 1966, published c1967 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Four Songs on Texts by William Blake, no. 4, Ann Arbor : University Microfilms ; part of a dissertation [sung text not yet checked]
by Johannes Somary (b. 1935), "Night ", 1973, first performed 1974 [ duet for soprano and baritone with piano ], from Six Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Night", published 1911 [ voice and piano ], from The Twins' Tune Book, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "Night", 1948-50, rev. 1965 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 14, another version exists for voice, flute, and string quintet (composed 1966-71) [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Walker (1870 - 1949), "Night", op. 7 no. 4, published 1898 [ SS chorus or SA chorus and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 4, London : J. Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by David Ward-Steinman (b. 1936), "Night", 1964, published c1966, 1975, rev. 1984 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Exploring Music, by Eunice Boardman and Beth Landis. NY : Holt, Rinehart & Winston [sung text not yet checked]
by David Ward-Steinman (b. 1936), "Night", published 1985 [ voice and piano ], from Children’s Corner Revisited, no. 3, Leyerle Publications [sung text checked 1 time]
by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "Night" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "Night", 2007, first performed 2008, stanzas 1-4 [ tenor and piano ], from Heaven and Earth, no. 1, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]
by Patrick Williams (1905 - 1985), "Night ", published 1959 [ unison chorus and piano ], London : Bosworth & Co., also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
by James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "Night ", 1966, first performed 1967 [ duet for contralto and baritone with piano ], from Trefoil, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Charlotte Durowsky , "Nacht" ; composed by Patrick Williams.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 48
Word count: 252

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