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by James Stephens (1882 - 1950)

The moon is shining on the sea
Language: English 
The moon is shining on the sea : 
Every night the moon looks down 
Through the spaces quietly ; 
And no matter though I be 
In the houses of the town, 
Something always says to me, 
The moon is shining on the sea. 

Along the boulevard I pace. 
Peeping up among the trees. 
And I see her gentle face 
Looking through immensities ; 
And while I stare there comes to me 
The distant murmur of the sea. 

For they love each other well : 
All across the depth of space 
They are reaching out their arms, 
They are looking face to face, 
The pretty, timid moon and the 
Poor, unhappy, little sea. 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by James Stephens (1882 - 1950), "A song for lovers", appears in Songs from the Clay, first published 1915 [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 Walter Byron Mourant (1910 - 1995), "Lovers" [ soprano and piano ], note: may be incorrect text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Joseph) Deems Taylor (1885 - 1966), "A song for lovers", 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Three songs [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-26
Line count: 19
Word count: 108

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