Sunlight, moonlight,
     Twilight, starlight --
Gloaming at the close of day,
     And an owl calling,
     Cool dews falling
In a wood of oak and may.

     Lantern-light, taper-light,
     Torchlight, no-light:
Darkness at the shut of day,
     And lions roaring,
     Their wrath pouring
In wild waste places far away.

     Elf-light, bat-light,
     Touchwood-light and toad-light,
And the sea a shimmering gloom of grey,
     And a small face smiling
     In a dream's beguiling
In a world of wonders far away.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], p. 172.

Text Authorship:

• by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Dream-song", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 8. Songs, no. 5, first published 1913 [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 Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "Dream-Song", 1986 [ voice or unison chorus and piano ], from Dream-Songs, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 2 times]
• by Doreen G. Carty , "Dream-song", 1956 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Dream-song", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], note: originally op. 9 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "Dream-song", published 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Otto Miessner (1880 - 1967), "Dream-song", published 1928-30 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (b. 1925), "Dream-song", published 1959 [ unison chorus and piano ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Dream-song", published 1943 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edwin John Stringham (1890 - 1974), "Dream-song", published 1935 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Gillies Whittaker (1876 - 1944), "Dream-song", published 1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "梦歌", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 75