by William Soutar (1898 - 1943)
Slaughter
Language: English
Within the violence of the storm The wise men are made dumb: Young bones are hollowed by the worm; The babe dies in the womb. Above the lover’s mouth is pressed The silence of a stone: Fate rides upon the iron beast And tramples cities down. And shall the multitudinous grave Our enmity inter; These dungeons of misrule enslave Our bitterness and fear? All are the conquered; and in vain The laurel binds the brow: The phantoms of the dead remain And our faces show.
Authorship:
- by William Soutar (1898 - 1943), appears in But the Earth Abideth, Slaughter, first published 1943 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Slaughter", op. 84 no. 6, published 1972 [tenor and piano], from Who are these children?, no. 6. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 85