by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
O Winter! bar thine adamantine doors
Language: English
Our translations: RUS
"O Winter! bar thine adamantine doors: The north is thine; there hast thou built thy dark Deep-founded habitation. Shake not thy roofs, Nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car." He hears me not, but o'er the yawning deep Rides heavy; his storms are unchain'd, sheathed In ribbed steel; I dare not lift mine eyes, For he hath rear'd his sceptre o'er the world. Lo! now the direful monster, whose skin clings To his strong bones, strides o'er the groaning rocks: He withers all in silence, and in his hand Unclothes the earth, and freezes up frail life. He takes his seat upon the cliffs, -- the mariner Cries in vain. Poor little wretch, that deal'st With storms! -- till heaven smiles, and the monster Is driv'n yelling to his caves beneath mount Hecla.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "To Winter" [author's text not yet checked 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 Henry Bell (1873 - 1946), "Winter", 1940, from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Caspar J. Diethelm (b. 1926), "To Winter", op. 153 no. 4 (1977) [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from 5 Madrigale, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903 - 1939), "Winter", published 1931 [ chorus and orchestra ], from The Seasons, no. 4, London : Elkin & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Pierre Herman Joubert (1927 - 2019), "To Winter", op. 26 no. 1, published c1960 [ tenor and piano ], from Two Invocations for Tenor and Piano, no. 1, London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Laurence Powell (1899 - 1990), "To Winter", op. 12 no. 4, published 1928 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from The Seasons, no. 4, London: J. Williams [sung text not yet checked]
- by Godfrey Ridout (1918 - 1984), "Winter ", 1979-80 [ tenor and piano quintet ], from The Seasons, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bruce Stuart Saylor (b. 1946), "To Winter ", 1968 [ mixed chorus and orchestra ], from To Autumn, and To Winter, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "To Winter", op. 28 no. 4, published 1979, first performed 1980 [ voice, flute, viola, and harp ], from The Seasons, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John David White (b. 1931), "To Winter", first performed 1970 [ baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra ], from Cantos of the Year, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Brocklesby Wordsworth (1908 - 1988), "To Winter", op. 33 no. 4, published 1948 [ medium voice and string trio ], from The Four Seasons, no. 4, London : A. Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Zimě"
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "К Зиме", first published 1979, 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: 16
Word count: 132