Recitative: Still tho' the scene of possible summer recedes, and the guns can be heard across the hills like waves at night: though crawling suburbs fill their valleys with the stench of idleness like rotting weeds, and desire unacted breeds its pestilence. Tenor solo: Yet still below the soot the roots are sure and beyond the guns there is another murmur like pigeons flying unnotice'd over continents with secret messages of peace: and at the centre of wheeling conflict the heart is calmer the promise nearer than ever it came before.
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Recitative and Choral", op. 14 no. 3, published 1939 [ tenor or soprano solo, chorus, and orchestra ], from Ballad of Heroes, no. 3
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-04-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 91