by Henry Newbolt, Sir (1862 - 1938)
Sailing at dawn
Language: English
One by one the pale stars die before the day now, One by one the great ships are stirring from their sleep, Cables all are rumbling, anchors all a-weigh now, Now the fleet's a fleet again, gliding towards the deep. Now the fleet's a fleet again, bound upon the old ways, Splendour of the past comes shining in the spray; Admirals of old time, bring us on the bold ways! Souls of all the sea-dogs, lead the line to-day! Far away behind us town and tower are dwindling, Home becomes a fair dream faded long ago; Infinitely glorious the height of heaven is kindling, Infinitely desolate the shoreless sea below. Now the fleet's a fleet again, bound upon the old ways, etc. Once again with proud hearts we make the old surrender, Once again with high hearts serve the age to be, Not for us the warm life of Earth, secure and tender, Ours the eternal wandering and warfare of the sea. Now the fleet's a fleet again, bound upon the old ways, etc.
Authorship:
- by Henry Newbolt, Sir (1862 - 1938), "Sailing at dawn", appears in Poems: New and Old, in Songs of the Fleet, no. 1, first published 1912 [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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Sailing at dawn", op. 117 no. 1 (1910), published 1910, first performed 1910 [ baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of the Fleet, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-06
Line count: 18
Word count: 174