by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)
Washington Monument by night
Language: English
The stone goes straight. A lean swimmer dives into night sky, Into half-moon mist. Two trees are coal black. This is a great white ghost between. It is cool to look at. Strong men, strong women, come here. Eight years is a long time To be fighting all the time. The republic is a dream. Nothing happens unless first a dream. The wind bit hard at Valley Forge one Christmas. Soldiers tied rags on their feet.
Text Authorship:
- by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "Washington Monument by night", appears in Slabs of the Sunburnt West, first published 1922 [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 Sam Raphling (b. 1910), "Washington Monument by night", published 1952. [medium voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-18
Line count: 13
Word count: 76