Dark hills at evening in the west,
Where sunset hovers like a sound
Of golden horns that sang to rest
Old bones of warriors under ground,
Far now from all the bannered ways
Where flash the legions of the sun,
You fade -- as if the last of days
Were fading, and all wars were done.
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):
- by Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "The dark hills", published 1968 [ SSAA chorus and piano ], from In Nature's Ebb and Flow [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie R. Bassett (b. 1923), "The dark hills", 1953, published c1957, first performed 1953 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 3, NY : American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
- by Keith Warren Bissell (1912 - 1992), "The dark hills", published 1958 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilson Coker (b. 1928), "The dark hills", published 1966 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "The dark hills", 1949 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "The dark hills", 1966 [ medium voice and piano ], SOuthern/Texas [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Amadeus Pisk (1893 - 1990), "The dark hills", published 1946 [ SSA chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Russell , "The dark hills" [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louise Souther , "The dark hills", published 1937 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Evan Thomas (b. 1958), "The Dark Hills", 2020 [ medium voice and piano ], from Children of the Night, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph R. Travis , "The dark hills", published 1936 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wintter Haynes Watts (1884 - 1962), "The dark hills", published 1924 [ low voice and piano ], from Three Songs for Low Voice [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Die dunklen Hügel", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-01
Line count: 8
Word count: 55
Auf dunklen Hügeln glüht verklärt
die untergeh'nde Sonn' wie Klang
der gold'nen Hörner: Ruhgesang
für Kriegerknochen in der Erd'.
Weit weg von all der Fahnen Sieg,
die sonnenfunkelnd Heeren wehn,
verbleichst du - als wär' im Vergeh'n
der letzte Tag, der letzte Krieg.
