To Summer

O thou who passest thro' our valleys in
Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat
That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer,
Oft pitched'st here thy golden tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld
With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair. 

Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car
Rode o'er the deep of heaven; beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy valleys, on
Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy
Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our valleys love the Summer in his pride.

Our bards are fam'd who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "To Summer"

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

by William Henry Bell (1873-1946) , "Summer", 1940, from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 2.
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "To Summer", op. 28 no. 2, published 1979, first performed 1980 [voice, flute, viola, and harp], from The seasons, no. 2.

RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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K Letu

O Leto, obuzdaj svoikh konej,
Umer' ikh znojnogo dykhan'ja zhar,
Kogda ty mchishsja po dolinam nashim!
Kogda sredi dubov v shatre zlatom
Ty sladko dremlesh', ljubo nam smotret'
Na shchjok rumjanec i volos izvivy.

V tenistykh roshchakh golos tvoj zvenit
V tot chas, kogda skol'zit po nebesam
Na kolesnice polden'; o podojdi,
Sadis' k ruch'ju na mshistye luga,
Na berega reki prozrachnoj, sbros'
Shelka odezhdy i vojdi skorej
V raskrytye ob"jat'ja nezhnykh voln.

U nashikh bardov struny sladkozvuchny,
A nashi parni posil'nej juzhan,
I devy nashi v tancakh veselej.
Zdes' stol'ko pesen, `ekha sred' kholmov,
Ruch'jov kristal'nykh i venkov lavrovykh,
Khranjashchikh nas ot znoja tvojego!

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "K Letu", published 1979, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

a text in English by William Blake (1757-1827) , "To Summer"

Date added to the website: 2008-02-15.