by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)
Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel!
Language: English
Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Night has brought the welcome hour, When the weary fingers feel Help, as if from faery power; Dewy night o'ershades the ground; Turn the swift wheel round and round! Now, beneath the starry sky, Couch the widely-scattered sheep;-- Ply the pleasant labour, ply! For the spindle, while they sleep, Runs with speed more smooth and fine, Gathering up a trustier line. Short-lived likings may be bred By a glance from fickle eyes; But true love is like the thread Which the kindly wool supplies, When the flocks are all at rest Sleeping on the mountain's breast.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850), "Song for the spinning wheel", subtitle: "Founded upon a Belief prevalent among the Pastoral Vales of Westmoreland", appears in The River Duddon, A series of Sonnets : Vaudracour and Julia : and Other Poems, first published 1820 [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 Herbert Antcliffe , "A song for the spinning wheel", published 1914 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Florence Newell Barbour (1867 - 1946), "Song for the spinning wheel", published 1912 [ SSAA chorus and piano ], Boston : Schmidt [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Henry Ibberson , "Song for the spinning wheel", published 1896 [ vocal trio of female voices ], glee ; Huddersfield : Wood-B [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob (1895 - 1984), "Song for the spinning wheel", published 1928 [ SS chorus and piano ], partsong; London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Madeleine Peck-Taylor , "Song for the spinning wheel", op. 4, published [1910] [ voice and piano ], Copenhagen, Wilhelm Hansen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Montague Fawcett Phillips (1885 - 1969), "Song for the spinning wheel", published 1937 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], London : Ascherberg, Hopwood, and Crew [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anders Österling (1884 - 1981) , copyright © ; composed by Jacob Ekström.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-04-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 102