When the lamp is shattered

When the lamp is shattered
The light in the dust lies dead--
When the cloud is scattered
The rainbow's glory is shed.
When the lute is broken,  
Sweet tones are remembered not;
When the lips have spoken,
Loved accents are soon forgot.

As music and splendour
Survive not the lamp and the lute, 
The heart's echoes render
No song when the spirit is mute: --
No song but sad dirges,
Like the wind through a ruined cell,
Or the mournful surges 
That ring the dead seaman's knell.

When hearts have once mingled
Love first leaves the well-built nest;
The weak one is singled
To endure what it once possessed. 
O Love! who bewailest
The frailty of all things here,
Why choose you the frailest
For your cradle, your home, and your bier?

Its passions will rock thee 
As the storms rock the ravens on high;
Bright reason will mock thee,
Like the sun from a wintry sky.
From thy nest every rafter
Will rot, and thine eagle home 
Leave thee naked to laughter,
When leaves fall and cold winds come.

by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) , "Lines: When the lamp is shattered", published 1824

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 Antheil (1900-1959) , "When the lamp is shattered", published 1951 [SATB and keyboard], from Eight Fragments from Shelley, no. 3.
by John G. Barnett (1802-1890) , "When the lamp is shattered", published 1860. [from A Series of Contralto Songs, no. 2]
by (Robert) Houston Bright (1916-1970) , "When the lamp is shattered", published 1970. [SATB chorus]
by Alfred (Lee) Budd, Jr. , "When the lamp is shattered", published 1942.
by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960) , "When the lamp is shattered", op. 2 (Two Songs) no. 2, unpublished

Date added to the website: 2005-01-26.

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