“Summer” (from The Seasons)
TEXT
In darkness shrouded
Lucas:
In darkness shrouded steals the dawn, in pearly mantle.
With falt’ring footsteps, in retreat, the weary night retires.
To gloomy caverns ferocious vultures now repair;
Their ghastly shriekings no longer pierce the trembling heart.
Simon:
The well-reposed countryman, by the cock’rel’s raucous call awak’d,
To daily labour and worthy toil is summon’d.
The wakeful herdsman
Simon:
The wakeful herdsman gathers up his cheerful flock of bleating sheep;
Through rolling hills and meadows green, slowly he drives them forth.
To eastern skies he lifts his gaze, while steadfast on his crook he leans.
He longs to see a glimm’ring ray, welcome sight of breaking day.
Hannah:
The rosy dawn breaks forth at last;
Like wisps of smoke the clouds disappear.
The heav’ns are radiant, in azure serene,
The hills are burnish’d with fiery gold.
Behold the Sun!
Hannah, Lucas, Simon & Chorus:
Behold the Sun!
He creeps, He stalks, He climbs, He strides, He glows, He gleams;
He shines, resplendent and bright, enflam’d and in majesty!
Hail, O glorious Sun! Thou source of light and life, all hail!
O thou, the eye and soul of all, and image of our God! We offer thanks to thee.
How shall we tell of such great rapture, which by thy bounty now appears?
How shall we count the num’rous blessings, which by thy gentle grace are giv’n?
The rapture, O how shall we tell? The blessings, O how shall we count?
Hannah:
All hail to thee for endless joy!
Lucas:
All hail to thee for boundless cheer!
Simon:
All hail to thee for matchless health!
Hannah, Lucas, Simon & Chorus:
All hail to thee,
Though all thy pow’r and strength to thee by God is giv’n.
Hail, O glorious Sun! Thou source of light and life, all hail!
Rejoice, uplift your voices, sing praise(s) to Nature fair!
The village lads and lasses
Simon:
The village lads and lasses haste to the meadows;
A colourful throng spreads over the fields.
The waves of ripen’d corn bow down before the sunburnt reapers.
The sickles flash, the corn-stalks fall!
But soon the crop is gather’d and tightly bound in sturdy sheaves.
Lucas:
At noon the sun ascends with fiercest blaze
And pours through clear and cloudless skies
A torrent of fire on the meadows below.
Whilst o’er the arid pastureland, above the haze,
Appears a flood of dazzling brightness.
Exhausted Nature, fainting, sinks
Lucas:
Exhausted Nature, fainting, sinks.
Wilted blossoms, scorched meadows, parched sources,
Witness all the raging heat,
And weary, languish man and beast, outstretch’d upon the ground.
How welcome now, ye shady groves!
Hannah:
How welcome now, ye shady groves!
Where lofty boughs of ancient oak give cool, refreshing shade,
And rustling leaves of slend’rest ash in whisp’ring murmurs sound.
Through banks of downy mosses a bubbling brooklet purls,
And merrily flits o’er blooming flow’rs, a host of enamell’d insects.
The herbs breathe forth their sweetest scent, on wings of zephyrs borne,
And from a neighb’ring thicket tunes a youthful shepherd’s reed.
How refreshing to the senses
Hannah:
How refreshing to the senses, how reviving to the heart,
Life through ev’ry vein is flowing, joy in ev’ry nerve awakes, enlivening the soul.
The spirit soars aloft with pleasure and delight,
An ardent, rousing zeal assails the cheerful breast.
Behold, arising through the sultry air
Simon:
Behold, arising through the sultry air,
Along a distant mountain reach, A pallid cloud of mist and vapour;
Now forc’d aloft, it grows apace
And covers all the firmament with thickest darkness.
Lucas:
Hark, from the vale a muffl’d rumble foretells th’impending storm.
See, brooding with fate, the blacken’d billows slowly creep
And, threat’ning, hover o’er the plain.
Hannah:
In fear and anguish, all Nature holds its breath.
No beast, no leaf is stirring; a deathly silence reigns.
The storm approaches near!
Chorus:
Ah! The storm approaches near!
Heav’n protect us!
Hark, how the thunder rolls!
Hark, how the whirlwind roars!
Away, away! Where shall we fly?
Flashes of lightning break over the skies,
Their sharp, jagged forks are bursting the billows,
And torrents drown us below.
Where is shelter?
Dreadful blasts the storm, the arch of Heav’n is aflame.
Save us wretches!
Smashing, crashing, smack and crack,
The thunder growls with frightful noise.
The earth, convuls’d, is shaken, e’en to the oceans’ deep.
Lucas:
The gloomy storm clouds soon disperse
And silenc’d is the tempest’s rage.
Hannah:
Before th’approaching eventide,
The sun peeps out once more,
And bathèd in those glorious beams,
Like brightest pearls, the meadows shine.
Simon:
And so to long-acquainted byres,
Well sated and refresh’d, the cattle now return.
Lucas:
In hedges, quails sing to their mates.
Hannah:
In grasses, cheerful crickets chirp.
Simon:
In marshes, gruffly croak the frogs.
Hannah, Lucas, & Simon:
The eve’tide curfew tolls.
For o’er us winks the brightest star
And calls us all to sweet repose.
Chorus:
Lads and lasses, children come!
Sweetest slumber now awaits.
A spotless heart and healthy frame
Our daily labours shall attest.
We come, we follow thee!
The eve’tide curfew slowly toll’d.
For o’er us winks the brightest star,
And calls us all to sweet repose.
Gottfried van Sweiten (1733-1803) & Paul McCreesh