Come lovely and soothing death

Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate death.

Prais'd be the fathomless universe,
For life and joy, and for objects and knowledge curious;
And for love, sweet love - But praise! praise! praise!
For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding Death.

Dark Mother, always gliding near, with soft feet,
Have none chanted for thee a chant of fullest welcome?

Then I chant it for thee - I glorify thee above all;
I bring thee a song that when thou must indeed come, come unfalteringly.

Approach, strong Deliveress!
When it is so - when thou hast taken them, I joyously sing the dead,	
Lost in the loving, floating ocean of thee,
Laved in the flood of thy bliss, O Death.

From me to thee glad serenades,
Dances for thee I propose, saluting thee - adornments and feastings for thee;
And the sights of the open landscape, and the high-spread sky, are fitting,
And life and the fields, and the huge and thoughtful night.

The night, in silence, under many a star;
The ocean shore, and the husky whispering wave, whose voice I know;	
And the soul turning to thee, O vast and well-veil'd Death,
And the body gratefully nestling close to thee.

Over the tree-tops I float thee a song!
Over the rising and sinking waves - over the myriad fields, and the prairies wide;
Over the dense-pack'd cities all, and the teeming wharves and ways,	
I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee, O Death!

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) , no title, from Memories of President Lincoln, in "When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd", no. 16

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

by George Crumb (1929-) , "The night in silence under many a star", stanza 7, from Apparition - Elegiac Songs and Vocalises, no. 1.
by George Crumb (1929-) , "The night in silence under many a star", stanza 7, from Apparition - Elegiac Songs and Vocalises, no. 6.
by George Crumb (1929-) , "Approach Strong Deliveress!", stanza 5, from Apparition - Elegiac Songs and Vocalises, no. 4.
by George Crumb (1929-) , "Come lovely and soothing death", stanza 1, from Apparition - Elegiac Songs and Vocalises, no. 5.
by George Crumb (1929-) , "Dark Mother, always gliding near, with soft feet", stanza 3, from Apparition - Elegiac Songs and Vocalises, no. 3.
by William Howard Schuman (1910-1992) , "To All, To Each", stanza 1, from Carols of Death, no. 3.

Date added to the website: 2005-01-13.

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