by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
The Night of the Dance
Language: English
The cold moon hangs to the sky by its horn, And centres its gaze on me; The stars, like eyes in reverie, Their westering as for a while forborne, Quiz downward curiously. Old Robert draws the backbrand in, The green logs steam and spit; The half-awakened sparrows flit From the riddled thatch; and owls begin To whoo from the gable-slit. Yes; far and nigh things seem to know Sweet scenes are impending here; That all is prepared; that the hour is near For welcomes, fellowships, and flow Of sally, song, and cheer; That spigots are pulled and viols strung; That soon will arise the sound Of measures trod to tunes renowned; That She will return in Love's low tongue My vows as we wheel around.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The night of the dance", appears in Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses, first published 1909 [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 Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "The Night of the Dance", 1921 [ voice and string quartet ], from The Mound, no. 1, fragment [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-14
Line count: 20
Word count: 125