Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long [light]1 shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory: Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, [Blow, bugle]2; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: [Blow, bugle;]2 answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river: Our echoes roll from soul to soul And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, [And]2 [answer, echoes]3, dying, dying, dying.
F. Delius sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Britten: "night"
2 Britten: "Bugle, blow"; Holst: "Blow, bugle, blow"
3 Holst: "echoes, answer"
Authorship
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Princess, first published 1850 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Nocturne", op. 31 no. 2 (1943), first performed 1943 [tenor, horn, and strings or piano], from Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, no. 2 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "The splendour falls on castle walls", stanzas 1-2 [SATB chorus] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Malcolm Forsyth (b. 1936), "Blow, bugle, blow", 2000, first performed 2000 [SATB chorus and brass] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The splendour falls", 1943, published 1944 [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Goldbeck (1839 - 1908), "The splendour falls on castle walls ", 1866 [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "The splendour falls", op. 20a no. 2, H. 80 no. 2 [chorus], from Songs from The Princess, no. 2 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dorothy Pilling (1910 - 1998), "The splendour falls" [voice and piano], confirmed with a score [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The splendour falls", published 1914 [voice and piano], first published in Vocalist, May 1905 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Richard Henry Walthew (1872 - 1951), "The splendour falls" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879) , no title, appears in Lieder- und Balladenbuch amerikanischer und englischer Dichter der Gegenwart, in Lieder aus "Die Prinzessin", no. 5, first published 1862 FRE NYN SPA ; composed by Heinrich Zöllner.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Jean-Pierre Granger) , "Nocturne", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt) , "Nattstemning", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Pablo Sabat) , "Nocturno"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 127
Glansen fell på slottsveggar Og snøkledde toppar gamle av minne Det lange lyset blafrar over sjøane Og det ville vannfallet strøymer ærefullt, Blås, valthorn, blås, i veg med ville ekko, Blås, valthorn; svar, døyande, døyande ekko. Å lytt, å høyr, så kvasst og klårt Og kvassare, klårare og lenger bèr det! Å gildt og høgt frå kant og skar Bles dei svinnande horna frå Alveland Blås, lat oss høyre svaret frå dei blåraude fjelldalane Blås, valthorn; svar, døyande, døyande ekko. Å kjærleik, dei døyr i hine fulle skyer, Dei svinn over ås eller mark eller elv: Våre ekko rullar frå sjel til sjel Og veks i æve og i æve Blås, valthorn, blås, i veg med ville ekko, Svar, døyande, døyande ekko.
Authorship
- Translation from English to Norwegian (Nynorsk) copyright © 2004 by Are Frode Søholt, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Are Frode Søholt. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in English by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Princess, first published 1850
This text was added to the website: 2008-03-28
Line count: 18
Word count: 122