by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953)
The winter moon has such a quiet car
Language: English
The winter moon has such a quiet car That all the winter nights are dumb with rest. She drives the gradual dark with drooping crest, And dreams go wandering from her drowsy star. Because the nights are silent, do not wake: But there shall tremble through the general earth, And over you, a quickening and a birth. The sun is near the hill-tops for your sake. The latest born of all the days shall creep To kiss the tender eyelids of the year; And you shall wake, grown young with perfect sleep, And smile at the new world, and make it dear With living murmurs more than dreams are deep. Silence is dead, my Dawn; the morning's here.
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Text Authorship:
- by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953), "February", appears in Verses and Sonnets, in Sonnets of the Twelve Months, no. 2, first published 1896 [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 Stephen Dodgson (b. 1924), "February", published 1974 [ soprano or tenor, oboe obbligato, and piano ], from Three Winter Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Winter Moon", subtitle: "Sonnet IV", op. 61 (1945) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Edward Rose (b. 1934), "February", published 1967 [ SATB chorus, piano duet, and percussion ad libitum ], from Winter Music [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 119