by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), as Ellen Alleyn
Where sunless rivers weep
Language: English
Where sunless rivers weep Their waves into the deep, She sleeps a charmed sleep: Awake her not. Led by a single star, She came from very far To seek where shadows are Her pleasant lot. She left the rosy morn, She left the fields of corn, For twilight cold and lorn And water springs. Through sleep, as through a veil, She sees the sky look pale, And hears the nightingale That sadly sings. Rest, rest, a perfect rest Shed over brow and breast; Her face is toward the west, The purple land. She cannot see the grain Ripening on hill and plain; She cannot feel the rain Upon her hand. Rest, rest, for evermore Upon a mossy shore; Rest, rest at the heart's core Till time shall cease: Sleep that no pain shall wake; Night that no morn shall break Till joy shall overtake Her perfect peace.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in Germ, January 1850.Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), as Ellen Alleyn, "Dream Land" [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 Alexander von Fielitz (1860 - 1930), "Dream Land", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Miriam Beatrice Hyde (b. 1913), "Dream Land", 1933 [ soprano and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Haydn Mulholland , "Dream Land", published 1898 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles L. Naylor , "Where sunless rivers weep", published 1892 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "Dream Land" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Dreamland", 1898?, published 1906, first performed 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Walker (1870 - 1949), "Dream Land", op. 12 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Hubert) Leslie Woodgate (1902 - 1961), "The charmed sleep", published 1925 [ voice and piano ], from Autumn Twilight [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-29
Line count: 32
Word count: 147