The shell (Stephens, set by W. Mourant) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


And then I pressed the shell 
Close to my ear 
And listened well, 
And straightway like a bell 
Came low and clear 
The slow, sad murmur of far distant seas, 
Whipped by an icy breeze 
Upon a shore 
Wind-swept and desolate. 

It was a sunless strand that never bore 
The footprint of a man, 
Nor felt the weight 
Since time began 
Of any human quality or stir 
Save what the dreary winds and waves incur. 
And in the hush of waters was the sound 
Of pebbles rolling round, 
For ever rolling with a hollow sound. 

And bubbling sea-weeds as the waters go 
Swish to and fro 
Their long, cold tentacles of slimy grey. 
There was no day, 
Nor ever came a night 
Setting the stars alight 
To wonder at the moon; 
Was twilight only and the frightened croon, 
Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind 
And waves that journeyed blind 
And then I loosed my ear O, it was sweet 
To hear a cart go jolting clown the street.

Authorship

James Stephens (1882-1950)

Insurrections

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

Walter Mourant (1910-)

Date added to the website: 2009-01-26.

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