by William Watson, Sir (1858 - 1935)
Behold, she is risen who lay asleep so...
Language: English
Behold, she is risen who lay asleep so long, Our England, our Belovèd ! We have seen The swelling of the waters, we have heard The thundering cataracts call. Behold, she is risen, Lovelier in resurrection than the face Of vale or mountain, when, with storming tears, At all Earth's portals knocks the importunate Spring. We watched her sleeping. Day and night we strove With the dread spell that drowsed her heart. And thrice In the unrest of her sick dreams she stirred, Half raised herself, half oped her lips and lids, And thrice the evil charm prevailed, and thrice She fell back forceless. But behold, she is risen, The Hope of the World is risen, is risen anew.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Watson, Sir (1858 - 1935), "The awakening", appears in The Year of Shame, first published 1897 [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 Frederic H. Wood (1880 - 1963), "The Awakening", published c1952 [ female soli, SSA chorus, strings, and piano ], from Motherland, no. 1, note: the sung text is made up of a few opening lines [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederic H. Wood (1880 - 1963), "The Northern Star", published c1952 [ female soli, SSA chorus, strings, and piano ], from Motherland, no. 2, note: the sung text is made up of a few closing lines [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 118