The warm sun is failing, the bleak wind is wailing, The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying, And the Year On the earth her death-bed, in a shroud of leaves dead, Is lying. Come, Months, come away, From November to May, In your saddest array; Follow the bier Of the dead cold Year, And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre. The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling, The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knelling For the Year; The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each gone To his dwelling; Come, Months, come away; Put on white, black, and gray; Let your light sisters play -- Ye, follow the bier Of the dead cold Year, And make her grave green with tear on tear.
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Text Authorship:
- by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Autumn: A dirge", appears in Posthumous Poems, first published 1824 [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 Ferruccio Bonavia (1877 - 1950), "Autumn -- a dirge", published 1935 [ men's chorus or vocal quartet of male voices a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Autumn: A dirge" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Martin Yeates Hurlstone (1876 - 1906), "Autumn: A dirge" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Autumn", op. 138 (Six Songs for Two Sopranos) no. 3, published 1914 [ vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano ], London: J. Curwen & Sons Ltd. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal'mont (1867 - 1942) , "Осень", subtitle: "Похоронная песнь" ; composed by Vasily Andreyevich Zolotaryov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Jeseň (Žalozpěv)", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-02-22
Line count: 22
Word count: 131
Slunce již se chýlí, chladný vítr kvílí,
nahé větve lkají, květy umírají;
Konec roku
na zem se v svém loži v rubáš z listí složí
v tichu, taji.
Ó Měsíce sem spějte v davu,
od Listopadu v Máje slávu,
V svém nejsmutnějším spějte hávu
za rakví v tichém kroku
chladného, mrtvého roku
a jako chmurné stíny vy bděte mu blíž boku!
Chladná prška splývá, stuhlý červ zem zrývá,
řeky burácejí, hromy vyzvánějí
v konec roku!
Prchly ptáků roje, ještěrky lézt v svoje
skrýše spějí.
Ó Měsíce sem spějte v davu
v svém bílém, černém, šedém hávu
svým zářným sestrám pro zábavu
za rakví v tichém kroku
mrtvého, chladného roku,
vzplaň zelení hrob jeho ve vašich slzí toku!
Confirmed with SHELLEY, P. B. Výbor lyriky, translated by Jaroslav Vrchlický, Praha: J. Otto, 1901, pages 89-90.
Text Authorship:
- by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912), "Jeseň (Žalozpěv)", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Autumn: A dirge", appears in Posthumous Poems, first published 1824
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-26
Line count: 22
Word count: 117