by Abram Joseph Ryan (1838 - 1886)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Out of the silences wake me a song
Language: English
Chosen for Diff
Out of the silences wake me a song,
Beautiful, sad, and soft, and low;
Let the loveliest music sound along,
And wing each note with a wail of woe:
Dim and drear
As hope's last tear;
Out of the silences wake me a hymn,
Whose sounds are like shadows soft and dim.
Out of the stillness in your heart --
A thousand songs are sleeping there --
Wake me a song, thou child of art!
The song of a hope in a last despair:
Dark and low,
A chant of woe;
Out of the stillness, tone by tone,
Cold as a snowflake, low as a moan.
Out of the darkness flash me a song,
Brightly dark and darkly bright;
Let it sweep as a lone star sweeps along
The mystical shadows of the night:
Sing it sweet;
Where nothing is drear, or dark, or dim,
And earth-song soars into heavenly hymn.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Abram Joseph Ryan (1838 - 1886) [author's text not yet checked 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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Judith Herrington.
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-09-06
Line count: 23
Word count: 149
Awake, My Soul, And Sing!
Language: English  after the English
Chosen for Diff
Cantate dominum canticum novum, awake my soul and sing. Out of silence sad and low out of still and shadowed night out of darkness vast and deep finding a song of light Sing with the symphony of stars Sing with the laughing dancing seas Sing with the spirit of the wind filled with love's melodies Awake my soul and sing.
Inspired by: Joseph Ryan's Wake me a song
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Abram Joseph Ryan (1838 - 1886)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Judith Herrington , "Awake, My Soul, And Sing!", published 2022 [ satb chorus and piano ], Pavane Publishing
Publisher: Pavane Publishing [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-09-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 60