by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
When the eye of day is shut
Language: English
When the eye of day is shut, And the stars deny their beams, And about the forest hut Blows the roaring wood of dreams, From deep clay, from desert rock, From the sunk sands of the main, Come not at my door to knock, Hearts that loved me not again. Sleep, be still, turn to your rest In the lands where you are laid; In far lodgings east and west Lie down on the beds you made. In gross marl, in blowing dust, In the drowned ooze of the sea, Where you would not, lie you must, Lie you must, and not with me.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in Last Poems, no. 33, 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 John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "When the eye of day is shut" [baritone and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 104