by Stevie Smith (1903 - 1971)
The heavenly city
Language: English
I sigh for the heavenly country, Where the heavenly people pass, And the sea is as quiet as a mirror Of beautiful beautiful glass. I walk in the heavenly field, With lilies and poppies bright, I am dressed in a heavenly coat Of polished white. When I walk in the heavenly parkland My feet on the pasture are bare, Tall waves the grass, but no harmful Creature is there. At night I fly over the housetops, And stand on the bright moony beams; Gold are all heaven’s rivers, And silver her streams.
Text Authorship:
- by Stevie Smith (1903 - 1971), "The Heavenly City", first published 1942 [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 John Bartlett (b. 1949), "The Heavenly City", 2024 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alan Bullard (b. 1947), "The heavenly city", 1972, first performed 1976 [ soprano, violin (or viola) and piano; or soprano and string orchestra ], from The Heavenly City, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2024-03-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 92