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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

The Door of Death is made of gold
Language: English 
The Door of Death is made of gold,
That mortal eyes cannot behold;
But when the mortal eyes are clos'd,
And cold and pale the limbs repos'd,
The soul awakes; and, wond'ring, sees
In her mild hand the golden Keys:
The Grave is Heaven's Golden Gate,
And rich and poor around it wait;
O Shepherdess of England's fold,
Behold this Gate of Pearl and Gold!

To dedicate to England's Queen
The visions that my soul has seen,
And, by her kind permission, bring
What I have borne on solemn wing,
From the vast regions of the Grave,
Before her throne my wings I wave;
Bowing before my Sov'reign's feet,
`The Grave produc'd these blossoms sweet
In mild repose from earthly strife;
The blossoms of Eternal Life!'

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827) [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 Gordon Crosse (b. 1937), "The Door of Death", op. 17 no. 11 (1966), published 1967, first performed 1966 [ soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra ], from Changes - A Nocturnal Cycle, no. 11, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "The Door of Death is made of gold", op. 25 (Seven songs) no. 3 (1917) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-30
Line count: 20
Word count: 126

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