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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Yes, when the stars glisten'd
Language: English 
Yes, when the stars glisten'd,
All night long, on the prong of a moss-scallop'd stake,
Down, almost amid the slapping waves,
Sat the lone singer, wonderful, causing tears.
  
He call'd on his mate;
He pour'd forth the meanings which I, of all men, know.
  
Yes, my brother, I know;
The rest might not -- but I have treasur'd every note;
For [once, and]1 more than once, dimly, down to the beach gliding,
Silent, avoiding the moonbeams, blending myself with the shadows,
Recalling now the obscure shapes, the echoes,
   the sounds and sights after their sorts,
The white arms out in the breakers tirelessly tossing,
I, with bare feet, a child, the wind wafting my hair,
Listen'd long and long.
  
Listen'd, to keep, to sing -- now translating the notes,
Following you, my brother.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   F. Delius 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Delius.

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Leaves of Grass, in Sea-Drift, no. 6 [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
  • by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Sea-Drift", published 1918 [ baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra ]
    • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-07
Line count: 17
Word count: 132

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