The ocean fairies (William Aubrey Powell)
Music files
| ICON | SOURCE |
|---|---|
 |
|
 |
Mp3 |
 |
File details |
 |
Help |
- (Posted 2024-06-27) CPDL #81062:
- Editor: David Anderson (submitted 2024-06-27). Score information: Letter, 12 pages, 685 kB Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes: This edition has restored a few words of the poem to those in its original published version.
General Information
Title: The ocean fairies
Composer: William Aubrey Powell
Lyricist: John Graham
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
First published: 1868 F. J. Huntington & Co.
Description:
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Silently, silently, over the sea,
The vesper breeze is blowing,
Silently, silently, over the sea,
Our faëry barque is going.
We hoist no sail to the dying gale,
We have no helm to guide;
But we whisper our spell to those who dwell
Beneath that sunless tide.
Our wayward course wherever we roam
By starlike eyes is lit;
Our barque is of the ocean foam,
The tempest fashion’d it.
The waves that leap o’er the mighty deep
Our nimble playmates be;
And the low distant wail of the dying gale
Our ocean melody.
Merrily, merrily over the sea
Our faëry barque is going,
As on we glide the beautiful tide,
How soft the breeze is blowing.
We hoist no sail to the dying gale,
We have no helm to guide;
But we whisper our spell to those who dwell
Beneath that sunless tide.
William Aubrey Powell was born in Wales and immigrated to the U. S., settling in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He directed the Choral Society of Scranton and was the first choirmaster and organist of the First Welsh Baptist Church in Scranton. He was also editor of the Welsh periodical Y Ford Gron. He died in Scranton. He composed a number of partsongs/glees.