by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
In the valley of waters
Language: English
In the valley of waters we wept o'er the day When the host of the stranger made Salem his prey, And our heads on our bosoms all droopingly lay, And our hearts were so full of the land far away. The song they demanded in vain -- it lay still In our souls as the wind that hath died on the hill; They call'd for the harp -- but our blood they shall spill Ere our right hand shall teach them one tone of our skill. All stringlessly hung on the willow's sad tree, As dead as her dead leaf those mute harps must be; Our hands may be fetter'd -- our tears still are free, For our God and our glory -- and, Sion! -- Oh, thee.
Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "In the valley of waters", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 27, first published 1815 [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 Samuel Bugatch , "In the valley of waters", published 1943 [ soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra ], from Judea [sung text not yet checked]
- by Isaac Nathan (1790 - 1864), "In the valley of waters", published 1815 [ voice and piano ], from A Selection of Hebrew Melodies No. I, no. 27 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Dans la vallée des eaux", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 27
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-08-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 123