by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940)
This night
Language: English
This night, as I sit here alone, And brood on what is dead and gone, The owl that's in this Highgate Wood, Has found his fellow in my mood; To every star, as it doth rise - Oh-o-o! Oh-o-o! he shivering cries. And, looking at the Moon this night, There's that dark shadow in her light. Ah! Life and death, my fairest one, Thy lover is a skeleton! "And why is that?" I question - "why?" Oh-o-o! Oh-o-o! the owl doth cry.
Text Authorship:
- by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "This night", appears in Child Lovers and other Poems, first published 1916 [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):
- by Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891 - 1975), "This night", 1923, published 1923, rev. 1972 [voice and piano], from Three songs, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
- by Wynn Hunt (b. 1910), "This night" [bass-baritone and piano], from W. H. Davies Song Cycle [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 80