Sir Edward Elgar: Sea Pictures, Op. 37

Song cycle for Mezzo-Soprano (or Contralto) and Orchestra, 1899

First performed by Dame Clara Butt at the Norwich Festival, October 5th, 1899

Sea Slumber-Song

Sea-birds are asleep,
The world forgets to weep,
Sea murmurs her soft slumber-song
On the shadowy sand
Of this elfin land; Sea-sound, like violins,
To slumber woos and wins,
I murmur my soft slumber-song,
Leave woes and wails and sins,

"I, the Mother mild,
Hush thee, O my child,
Forget the voices wild! Ocean's shadowy might
Breathes good-night,
Good-night!"

Isled in elfin light
Dream, the rocks and caves,
Lulled by whispering waves,
Veil their marbles bright,
Foam glimmers faintly white
Upon the shelly sand
Of this elfin land;

(Roden Noel)

In Haven (Capri)

Closely let me hold thy hand,
Storms are sweeping sea and land;
Love alone will stand. Closely cling, for waves beat fast,
Foam-flakes cloud the hurrying blast;
Love alone will last.

Kiss my lips, and softly say:
"Joy, sea-swept, may fade today;
Love alone will stay".

(C. Alice Elgar)

Sabbath Morning at Sea

The ship went on with solemn face:
To meet the darkness on the deep,
The solemn ship went onward.
I bowed down weary in the place;
For parting tears and present sleep
Had weighed mine eyelids downward. Love me, sweet friends, this sabbath day,
The sea sings round me while ye roll
Afar the hymn, unaltered,
And kneel, where once I knelt to pray,
And bless me deeper in your soul
Because your voice has faltered.

The new sight, the new wondrous sight!
The waters around me, turbulent,
The skies, impassive o'er me,
Calm in a moonless, sunless light,
As glorified by even the intent
Of holding the day glory! And though this sabbath comes to me
Without the stolèd minister,
And chanting congregation,
God's Spirit shall give comfort. He
Who brooded soft on waters drear,
Creator on creation.

He shall assist me to look higher,
Where keep the saints, with harp and song,
An endless sabbath morning,
And, on that sea commixed with fire,
Oft drop their eyelids raised too long
To the full Godhead's burning.

(from a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Where Corals Lie

The deeps have music soft and low
When winds awake the airy spry,
It lures me, lures me on to go
And see the land where corals lie. Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well;
But far the rapid fancies fly
To rolling worlds of wave and shell,
And all the lands where corals lie.

By mount and steed, by lawn and rill,
When night is deep, and moon is high,
That music seeks and finds me still,
And tells me where the corals lie. Thy lips are like a sunset glow,
Thy smile is like a morning sky,
Yet leave me, leave me, let me go
And see the land where corals lie.

(Richard Garnett)

The Swimmer

With short, sharp, violent lights made vivid
To southward far as the sight can roam,
Only the swirl of the surges livid,
The seas that climb and the surfs that comb.

Only the crag and the cliff to nor'ward,
And the rocks receding, and reefs flung forward,
Waifs wrecked seaward and wasted shoreward,
On shallows sheeted with flaming foam.

A grim, grey coast and a seaboard ghastly,
And shores trod seldom by feet of men-
Where the batter'd hull and the broken mast lie,
They have lain embedded these long years ten.

Love! when we wandered here together,
Hand in hand through the sparkling weather,
From the heights and hollows of fern and heather,
God surely loved us a little then.

The skies were fairer and shores were firmer-
The blue sea over the bright sand roll'd;
Babble and prattle, and ripple and murmur,
Sheen of silver and glamour of gold.

So, girt with tempest and wing'd with thunder
And clad with lightning and shod with sleet,
And strong winds treading the swift waves under
The flying rollers with frothy feet.

One gleam like a bloodshot sword-blade swims on
The sky-line, staining the green gulf crimson,
A death-stroke fiercely dealt by a dim sun
That strikes through his stormy winding sheet.

O brave white horses! you gather and gallop,
The storm sprite loosens the gusty reins:
Now the stoutest ship were the frailest shallop
In your hollow backs, on your high-arched manes.

I would ride as never a man has ridden
In your sleepy, swirling surges hidden;
To gulfs foreshadowed through strifes forbidden,
Where no light wearies and no love wanes.

(from a poem by A. Lindsay Gordon)

This page was put together in 1999 by Robin Hillyard for Symphony Pro Musica.

See Program notes (for centennial revival with Gale Fuller and Symphony Pro Musica).

Please send comments to Robin Hillyard

Sea-birds are asleep, The world forgets to weep, Sea murmurs her soft slumber-song On the shadowy sand Of this elfin land;	Sea-sound, like violins, To slumber woos and wins, I murmur my soft slumber-song, Leave woes and wails and sins,
"I, the Mother mild, Hush thee, O my child, Forget the voices wild!	Ocean's shadowy might Breathes good-night, Good-night!"
Isled in elfin light Dream, the rocks and caves, Lulled by whispering waves, Veil their marbles bright, Foam glimmers faintly white Upon the shelly sand Of this elfin land;

The ship went on with solemn face: To meet the darkness on the deep, The solemn ship went onward. I bowed down weary in the place; For parting tears and present sleep Had weighed mine eyelids downward.		Love me, sweet friends, this sabbath day, The sea sings round me while ye roll Afar the hymn, unaltered, And kneel, where once I knelt to pray, And bless me deeper in your soul Because your voice has faltered.
The new sight, the new wondrous sight! The waters around me, turbulent, The skies, impassive o'er me, Calm in a moonless, sunless light, As glorified by even the intent Of holding the day glory!		And though this sabbath comes to me Without the stolèd minister, And chanting congregation, God's Spirit shall give comfort. He Who brooded soft on waters drear, Creator on creation.

The deeps have music soft and low When winds awake the airy spry, It lures me, lures me on to go And see the land where corals lie.	Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well; But far the rapid fancies fly To rolling worlds of wave and shell, And all the lands where corals lie.
By mount and steed, by lawn and rill, When night is deep, and moon is high, That music seeks and finds me still, And tells me where the corals lie.	Thy lips are like a sunset glow, Thy smile is like a morning sky, Yet leave me, leave me, let me go And see the land where corals lie.

	With short, sharp, violent lights made vivid To southward far as the sight can roam, Only the swirl of the surges livid, The seas that climb and the surfs that comb.
	Only the crag and the cliff to nor'ward, And the rocks receding, and reefs flung forward, Waifs wrecked seaward and wasted shoreward, On shallows sheeted with flaming foam.
	A grim, grey coast and a seaboard ghastly, And shores trod seldom by feet of men- Where the batter'd hull and the broken mast lie, They have lain embedded these long years ten.
	Love! when we wandered here together, Hand in hand through the sparkling weather, From the heights and hollows of fern and heather, God surely loved us a little then.
	The skies were fairer and shores were firmer- The blue sea over the bright sand roll'd; Babble and prattle, and ripple and murmur, Sheen of silver and glamour of gold.
	So, girt with tempest and wing'd with thunder And clad with lightning and shod with sleet, And strong winds treading the swift waves under The flying rollers with frothy feet.
	One gleam like a bloodshot sword-blade swims on The sky-line, staining the green gulf crimson, A death-stroke fiercely dealt by a dim sun That strikes through his stormy winding sheet.
	O brave white horses! you gather and gallop, The storm sprite loosens the gusty reins: Now the stoutest ship were the frailest shallop In your hollow backs, on your high-arched manes.
	I would ride as never a man has ridden In your sleepy, swirling surges hidden; To gulfs foreshadowed through strifes forbidden, Where no light wearies and no love wanes.