by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Silent, silent Night
Language: English
Silent, silent Night Quench the holy light Of thy torches bright. For possess'd of Day Thousand spirits stray That sweet joys betray. Why should joys be sweet Used with deceit Nor with sorrows meet? But an honest joy Does itself destroy For a harlot coy.
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Silent, silent Night", first published 1863 [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 Alfred Matthew Hale (1875 - 1960), "Silent, silent Night", op. 16 no. 4, published 1910 [voice and piano], from Twelve Songs, no. 4, London : A. Lengnick [text not verified]
- by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "Silent, silent Night", 1980. [medium voice and piano] [text not verified]
- by Daria Semegen (b. 1946), "Silent, silent Night", 1965. [tenor and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 45