Sleep; and my song shall build about your bed A paradise of dimness. You shall feel The folding of tired wings; and peace will dwell Throned in your silence: and one hour shall hold Summer, and midnight, and immensity Lulled to forgetfulness. For, where you dream, The stately gloom of foliage shall embower Your slumbering thought with tapestries of blue. And there shall be no memory of the sky, Nor sunlight with its cruelty of swords. But, to your soul that sinks from deep to deep Through drowned and glimmering colour, Time shall be Only slow rhythmic swaying; and your breath; And roses in the darkness; and my love.
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Text Authorship:
- by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886 - 1967), "Slumber-song", appears in Picture-Show, no. 26, first published 1919 [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 John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "Slumber-song", published 1921 [ voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Miriam Gideon (1906 - 1996), "Slumber-song", 1931, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Ippolito (b. 1985), "Slumber song", 2013 [ baritone, SATB chorus, flute or piccolo, trumpet, percussion, organ, and piano ], from Six Sassoon Songs, no. 6, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cherry Isherwood , "Sleep", published 1943 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 109