Before the battle

Music of whispering trees
Hushed by a broad-winged breeze
Where shaken water gleams;
And evening radiance falling
With reedy bird-notes calling.
O bear me safe through dark, you low-voiced streams.
  
I have no need to pray
That fear may pass away;
I scorn the growl and rumble of the fight
That summons me from cool
Silence of marsh and pool
And yellow lilies is landed in light
O river of stars and shadows, lead me through the night.

by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886-1967) , "Before the battle", June 25th, 1916, from The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, published 1917

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

by Harold Blumenfeld (1923-) , "Before the battle", published 1971 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Songs of War, no. ?

Date added to the website: 2008-10-19.

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