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by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

When winter winds are piercing chill
Language: English 
Our translations:  CHI
When winter winds are piercing chill,
  And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
  That overbrows the lonely vale. 

O'er the bare upland, and away
  Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
  And gladden these deep solitudes. 

Where, twisted round the barren oak,
  The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
  The crystal icicle is hung. 

Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
  Pour out the river's gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater's iron rings,
  And voices fill the woodland side. 

Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
  When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
  And the song ceased not with the day! 

But still wild music is abroad,
  Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
  Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.
 
Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
  Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
  I listen, and it cheers me long.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "Woods in winter", appears in Voices of the Night, first published 1839 [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 Fred D. Bates , "Winter", published 1885 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Woods in Winter", 2014, published 2017, first performed 2021 [ baritone and piano ], E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Arthur William Marchant (1850 - ?), "A song of winter", op. 93 (Songs of Nature) no. 5, published 1906 [ partsong for 2-part chorus with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Herbert Francis Sharpe (1861 - 1925), "Winter" [ duet for voices and piano ], from 8 Two Part Songs for Girls' or Boys' Voices [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-27
Line count: 28
Word count: 176

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