by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803 - 1849)
How lovely is the heaven of this night
Language: English
How lovely is the heaven of this night, How deadly still its earth! The forest brute Has crept into his cave, and laid himself Where sleep has made him harmless like the lamb. The horrid snake, his venom now forgot, Is still and innocent as the honied flower Under his head: and man, in whom are met Leopard and snake, and all the gentleness And beauty of the young lamb and the bud, Has let his ghost out, put his thoughts aside And lent his senses unto death himself.
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Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803 - 1849), "A beautiful night", appears in The Poems Posthumous and Collected of Thomas Lovell Beddoes, first published 1851 [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 Hubert du Plessis (b. 1922), "How lovely is the heaven of this night", op. 16 (Two madrigals) no. ? (1954) [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-28
Line count: 11
Word count: 89