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by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)

The dreamer
Language: English 
On a midnight in midwinter when all but the winds were dead,
'The meek shall inherit the earth' was a Scripture that rang thro' his head,
Till he dream'd that a Voice of the Earth went wailingly past him and said:

    'I am losing the light of my Youth
    And the Vision that led me of old,
    And I clash with an iron Truth,
    When I make for an Age of gold,
    And I would that my race were run,
    For teeming with liars, and madmen, and knaves,
    And wearied of Autocrats, Anarchs, and Slaves,
    And darken'd with doubts of a Faith that saves,
    And crimson with battles, and hollow with graves,
    To the wail of my winds, and the moan of my waves
    I whirl, and I follow the Sun.'

Was it only the wind of the Night shrilling out Desolation and wrong
Thro' a dream of the dark? Yet he thought that he answer'd her wail with a song--

    Moaning your losses, O Earth,
        Heart-weary and overdone!
    But all's well that ends well,
        Whirl, and follow the Sun!

    He is racing from heaven to heaven
        And less will be lost than won,
    For all's well that ends well,
        Whirl, and follow the Sun!

    The Reign of the Meek upon earth,
        O weary one, has it begun?
    But all's well that ends well,
        Whirl, and follow the Sun!

    For moans will have grown sphere-music
        Or ever your race be run
    And all's well that ends well,
        Whirl, and follow the Sun! 

Text Authorship:

  • by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), "The dreamer", appears in The Death of Œnone, Akbar's Dream, and Other Poems, first published 1892 [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 Edward Woodall Naylor (1867 - 1934), "The dreamer", published 1902, first performed 1894 [soprano, tenor, baritone, SATB chorus, and orchestra], from the cantata Arthur the King, London, Vincent [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-05-05
Line count: 32
Word count: 253

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