Sun and moon (Crossley-Holland, set by A. Bliss) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


I saw a strange creature,
A bright ship of the air beautifully adorned,
Bearing away plunder beneath her horns,
Fetching it home from foray.
She was minded to build a bower in her stronghold,
And construct it with cunning if she could do so.
But then a mighty creature appeared over the mountain
Whose face is familiar to all dwellers on earth;
He seized on his treasure and sent home the wanderer
Much against her will; she went westward
Harbouring hostility, hastening forth.
Dust lifted to heaven, dew fell on the earth,
Night fled hence; and no man knew
Thereafter where the strange creature had gone.
And the answer: Sun and Moon.

Input by Ted Perry

Authorship

Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (1941-)

The Exeter Book

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

Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891-1975)

A knot of riddles

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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