At Day-Close in November | The ten hours' light is abating

by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

At Day‑Close in November

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER GER

The ten hours' light is abating,
And a late bird wings across,
Where the pines, like waltzers waiting,
Give their black heads a toss.

Beech leaves, that yellow the noon-time,
Float past like specks in the eye;
I set every tree in my June time,
And now they obscure the sky.

And the children who ramble through here
Conceive that there never has been
A time when no tall trees grew here,
That none will in time be seen.

Text Authorship:

by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At Day-Close in November", appears in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces, first published 1914 [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "At Day-Close in November", op. 52 no. 1 (1953), published 1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Winter words, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Arnold Atkinson Cooke (1906 - 2005), "At Day-Close in November" [ baritone, piano ], from Country Songs [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 79