by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848)
Silent is the house
Language: English
Silent is the house All are laid asleep One alone looks out O'er the snow wreaths deep Watching every cloud Dreading every breeze That whirls the wildering drifts And bends the groaning trees Cheerful is the hearth Soft the matted floor Not one shivering gust Creeps through pane and door The little lamp burns straight Its rays shoot strong and far I trim it well to be The wanderers guiding star Frown my haughty sire Chide my angry dame Set your slaves to spy Threaten me with shame But neither sire nor dame Nor prying serf shall know What angel nightly tracks That waste of winter snow What I love shall come Like visitant of air Safe in secret power From lurking human snare Who loves me no word of mine Shall o'er betray Though for faith unstained My life must forfeit pay Burn then little lamp Glimmer straight and clear Hush a rusting wind stirs Me thinks the air He for whom I wait Thus ever comes to me Strange power I trust your might Trust thou my constancy
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: in the Fisk work, this is sung by IsabellaText Authorship:
- by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848), "The Visionary", appears in Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, first published 1850 [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 Arthur Butterworth (b. 1923), "The visionary", published 1970 [soprano, clarinet obbligato, and orchestra], from The Night Wind [text not verified]
- by Terry Fisk , "Silent is the house
", published 2002 [voice, piano], from Wuthering Heights, no. 24. [text verified 1 time]
- by Lothar Klein (b. 1932), "The Visionary", 1966 [high voice and viola], from Laments from Gondal [text not verified]
Researcher for this page: Terry Fisk
This text was added to the website: 2004-03-22
Line count: 40
Word count: 180