Afternoon in February

The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.

Through clouds like ashes
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red.

The snow recommences;
The buried fences
Mark no longer
The road o'er the plain;

While through the meadows,
Like fearful shadows,
Slowly passes
A funeral train.

The bell is pealing,
And every feeling
Within me responds
To the dismal knell;

Shadows are trailing,
My heart is bewailing
And tolling within
Like a funeral bell.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) , "Afternoon in February", published 1845

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Emanuel A. Aguilar (1824-1904) , "Afternoon in February"
by Arthur C. Blunt , "The day is ending"
by Arthur Cottam , "Afternoon in February"
by J. Jacques Haakman , "Afternoon in February", op. 5 no. 1.
by John Pike Hullah (1812-1884) , "Afternoon in February"
by Thomas Tertius Noble (1867-1953) , "Winter", published 1917.
by Rudolph Zabel , "The day is ending", published 1875.

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Sheet music:

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Classical Vocal Repertoire