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by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962)

Over silent water
Language: English 
Over silent water
                              day descending
                                                           night ascending
floods the gentle glory of the sunset
In a golden greeting
                                     splendidly to westward
as pale twilight
                            trem-
                                       bles
                                                into
                                                        Darkness
comes the last light's gracious exhortation
                                                             Lifting up to peace
so when life shall falter
                                          standing on the shores of the
eternal
god
         May I behold my sunset
Flooding
                 over silent waters

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in Eight Harvard Poets, 1917

Text Authorship:

  • by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962), "Finis" [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Over silent waters", 2009 [soprano and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-07
Line count: 20
Word count: 60

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