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The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out Through the blinds and the windows and bars; And high overhead and all moving about, There were thousands [of]1 millions of stars. There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree, Nor of people in church or the Park, As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me, And that glittered and winked in the dark. The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all, And the star of the sailor, and Mars, These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall Would be half full of water and stars. They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries, And they soon had me packed into bed; But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes, And the stars going round in my head.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Lehmann: "and"
Authorship
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Escape at bedtime", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885 [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 Ethel Crowningshield , "Escape at bedtime", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edward Falk , "Escape at bedtime", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ], from A Child's Garden of Verses [sung text not yet checked]
- by Corey Field (b. 1956), "Escape at bedtime", 1983 [ high voice or unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "The stars", 1915, published 1917, first performed 1916 [ medium voice and piano ], from Five Little Songs, no. 4, Éd. Heugel, also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Edward Jager (b. 1939), "Going to sleep" [ soprano, and piano or woodwinds or chamber orchestra ], from A Child's Garden of Verses [sung text not yet checked]
- by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Stars", published 1893 [ tenor and piano ], from The daisy chain: twelve songs of childhood, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Oskar Morawetz (b. 1917), "Escape at bedtime", 1985, from Souvenirs from Childhood, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Léna (1859 - 1928) ; composed by Reynaldo Hahn.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Sylvain Labartette) , "Les étoiles", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 142
Les lumières du salon et de la cuisine éclairaient À travers les jalousies, les fenêtres, les barreaux et tout là-haut, se déplaçant au-dessus de la tête, se trouvaient là des centaines de millions d'étoiles. Jamais il n'y eut autant de feuilles dans un arbre Ni de gens à l'église, ni dans le parc Que cette foule d'étoiles qui m'observaient de là-haut Et scintillaient et clignotaient dans l'obscurité. Le Chien, et la Charrue, et le Chasseur, et toutes les autres, Et l'étoile du marin, et Mars, Elles brillaient dans le ciel et le seau près du mur Semblait à demi rempli d'eau et d'étoiles. Ils m'ont aperçu enfin et m'ont poursuivi de leurs appels Et bientôt m'ont ramené au lit. Mais l'éclat restait lumineux et brillant dans mes yeux et les étoiles tournant toujours dans ma tête.
Authorship
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2007 by Sylvain Labartette, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact:
- a text in English by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Escape at bedtime", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 136