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!'
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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