by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845)
We watch'd her breathing thro' the night
Language: English
We watch'd her breathing thro' the night, Her breathing soft and low, As in her breast the wave of life Kept heaving to and fro. So silently we seem'd to speak, So slowly moved about, As we had lent her half our powers To eke her living out. Our very hopes belied our fears, Our fears our hopes belied -- We thought her dying when she slept, And sleeping when she died. For when the morn came dim and sad, And chill with early showers, Her quiet eyelids closed -- she had Another morn than ours.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in Englishman's Magazine, 1831Authorship:
- by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845), "The death-bed" [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 Ann Sheppard Bartholomew, née Mounsey (1811 - 1891), "Parting", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912), "We watched her breathing through the night" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Henry Gill (flourished 1890), "We watched her breathing through the night", published 1896 [ voice and piano ], in Manx National Songs (text adapted by Gill to an arrangement of a Manx national air) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leo Kerbusch (b. 1828), "We watched her breathing", published 1870 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], chorale [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry J. Poole , "We watched her breathing through the night", published 1872 [ SATB chorus (and piano?) ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ethel Mary Smyth, Dame (1858 - 1944), "We watched her breathing through the night", 1876 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov (1829 - 1865) , "У смертного одра" ; composed by Aleksandr Solomonovich Razmadze.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 94