by Seumas O'Sullivan (1879 - 1958)
The twilight people
Language: English
It is a whisper among the hazel bushes ; It is a long, low, whispering voice that fills With a sad music the bending and swaying rushes ; It is a heart-beat deep in the quiet hills. Twilight people, why will you still be crying, Crying and calling to me out of the trees ? For under the quiet grass the wise are lying, And all the strong ones are gone over the seas. And I am old, and in my heart at your calling Only the old dead dreams a-fluttering go ; As the wind, the forest wind, in its falling Sets the withered leaves fluttering to and fro.
Text Authorship:
- by Seumas O'Sullivan (1879 - 1958), "The twilight people", appears in The Twilight People, first published 1905 [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 Dudley Glass , "The twilight people ", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "The twilight people", op. 2 no. 1 (1911) [ low voice and piano ], from A Cycle of Five Songs for Low Voice, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The twilight people", 1925, published 1925 [ alto or baritone and optional piano ], from Two Poems by Seumas O'Sullivan, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 107