Sunlight, moonlight,
Twilight, starlight --
Gloaming at the close of day,
And an owl calling,
Cool dews falling
In a wood of oak and may.
Lantern-light, taper-light,
Torchlight, no-light:
Darkness at the shut of day,
And lions roaring,
Their wrath pouring
In wild waste places far away.
Elf-light, bat-light,
Touchwood-light and toad-light,
And the sea a shimmering gloom of grey,
And a small face smiling
In a dream's beguiling
In a world of wonders far away.
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], p. 172.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Dream-song", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 8. Songs, no. 5, first published 1913 [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 Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "Dream-Song", 1986 [ voice or unison chorus and piano ], from Dream-Songs, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 2 times]
- by Doreen G. Carty , "Dream-song", 1956 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Dream-song", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], note: originally op. 9 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "Dream-song", published 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Otto Miessner (1880 - 1967), "Dream-song", published 1928-30 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (b. 1925), "Dream-song", published 1959 [ unison chorus and piano ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Dream-song", published 1943 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edwin John Stringham (1890 - 1974), "Dream-song", published 1935 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Gillies Whittaker (1876 - 1944), "Dream-song", published 1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 76