Beata Solitudo | Beata solitudo | What land of Silence

by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900)

What land of Silence

Language: English

What land of Silence,
  Where pale stars shine
On apple-blossom
  And dew-drenched vine,
  Is yours and mine?

The silent valley
  That we will find,
Where all the voices
  Of humankind
  Are left behind.

There all forgetting,
  Forgotten quite,
We will repose us,
  With our delight
  Hid out of sight.

The world forsaken,
  And out of mind
Honour and labour,
  We shall not find
  The stars unkind.

And men shall travail,
  And laugh and weep;
But we have vistas
  Of gods asleep,
With dreams as deep.

A land of Silence,
  Where pale stars shine
On apple-blossoms
  And dew-drenched vine,
Be yours and mine!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Ernest Dowson, Verses, London: Leonard Smithers, 1896, pages 32-33. Dedicated to Sam Smith.

Text Authorship:

by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Beata Solitudo", appears in Verses, London, Leonard Smithers, first published 1896 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Pamela Harrison (1915 - 1990), "Beata solitudo" [ tenor and string orchestra ], from Five Poems of Ernest Dowson [sung text not yet checked]
by George Norman Peterkin (1886 - 1982), "Beata solitudo", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "A Land Of Silence", op. 10 no. 3 (1907), published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Sorrow, no. 3, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "The valley of silence", op. 72 (Four Songs) no. 4, published 1911 [ voice and piano ], London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
by Grigory Smirnov (b. 1985), "A land of Silence", subtitle: "Beata Solitudo", 2013, published 2013, first performed 2014 [ tenor and piano ], from Dowson Songs, no. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: David K. Smythe , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 102