by William Soutar (1898 - 1943)
Nightmare
Language: English
The tree stood flowering in a dream: Beside the tree a dark shape bowed: As lightning glittered the axe-gleam Across the wound in the broken wood. The tree cried out with human cries: From its deepening hurt the blood ran: The branches flowered with children’s eyes And the dark murderer was a man. There came a fear which sighed aloud; And with its fear the dream-world woke: Yet in the day the tree still stood Bleeding beneath the axe-man’s stroke.
Authorship:
- by William Soutar (1898 - 1943), appears in In the Time of Tyrants, Nightmare, first published 1939 [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Nightmare", op. 84 no. 3, published 1972 [tenor and piano], from Who are these children?, no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 80