by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)
'Watchman, what of the night?'
Language: English
'Watchman, what of the night?' 'The stars are out in the sky; And the merry round moon will be rising soon, For us to go sailing by.' 'Watchman, what of the night?' 'The tide flows in from the sea; There's water to float a little cockboat Will carry such fishers as we.' 'Watchman, what of the night?' 'The night is a fruitful time; When to many a pair are born children fair, To be christened at morning chime.'
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Text Authorship:
- by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875), "The watchman", written 1849, appears in Andromeda and Other Poems, first published 1858 [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 Robin Humphrey Legge (1862 - 1933), "The watchman", published c1894 [ chorus a cappella ], London: Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Luton Wood , "Watchman, what of the night?", published 1915 [ voices and piano ], New York: American Book Co., in the collection Third Year Music [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 78