Rachel sings sweet -- Oh yes, at night, Her pale face bent In the candle-light, Her slim hands touch The answering keys, And she sings of hope And of memories: Sings to the little Boy that stands Watching those slim, Light, heedful hands. He looks in her face; Her dark eyes seem Dark with a beautiful Distant dream; And still she plays, Sings tenderly To him of hope, And of memory.
Songs of the Half-Light
Song Cycle by Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989)
1. Rachel  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Rachel", appears in The Listeners and Other Poems, first published 1912
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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.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Full moon  [sung text not yet checked]
One night as Dick lay half asleep, Into his drowsy eyes A great still light begins to creep From out the silent skies. It was lovely moon's, for when He raised his dreamy head, Her surge of silver filled the pane And streamed across his bed. So, for a while, each gazed at each - Dick and the solemn moon - Till, climbing slowly on her way, She vanished, and was gone.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Full moon", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 2. Boys and Girls, no. 5, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
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], page 56.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. All that's past  [sung text not yet checked]
Very old are the woods; And the buds that break Out of the brier's boughs, When March winds wake, So old with their beauty are-- Oh, no man knows Through what wild centuries Roves back the rose. Very old are the brooks; And the rills that rise Where snow sleeps cold beneath The azure skies Sing such a history Of come and gone, Their every drop is as wise As Solomon. Very old are we men; Our dreams are tales Told in dim Eden By Eve's nightingales; We wake and whisper awhile, But, the day gone by, Silence and sleep like fields Of amaranth lie.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "All that's past"
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, 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.
First published in Thrush, Jan. 1910Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. The moth  [sung text not yet checked]
Isled in the midnight air, Musked with the dark's faint bloom, Out into glooming and secret haunts The flame cries, 'Come!' Lovely in dye and fan, A-tremble in shimmering grace, A moth from her winter swoon Uplifts her face: Stares from her glamorous eyes; Wafts her on plumes like mist; In ecstasy swirls and sways To her strange tryst.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The moth", appears in Flora: A Book of Drawings, first published 1919
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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.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. The fleeting
The late wind failed . . . . . . . . . .— The rest of this text is not
currently in the database but will be
added as soon as we obtain it. —
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), appears in Poems for Children, first published 1930
See other settings of this text.