In the Dawn

In the Dawn is a song written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1901 as his Op.41, No.1.

The words are from the poem The Professor by Arthur Christopher Benson.[1]

At about the same time Elgar wrote a song Speak, Music!, as his Op.41, No.2, with words from the same poem.

The two songs were first performed in the Queen's Hall on 26 October 1901. The cover of the song, published by Boosey & Co, indicates that it was sung by John Coates (tenor), who recorded the song in 1915.

Lyrics
Some souls have quickened, eye to eye,
And heart to heart, and hand in hand;
The swift fire leaps, and instantly
They understand.
Henceforth they can be cold no more;
Woes there may be, ay, tears and blood,
But not the numbness, as before
They understood.
Henceforth, though ages roll
Across wild wastes of sand and brine,
Whate’er betide, one human soul
Is knit with mine.
Whatever joy be dearly bought,
Whatever hope my bosom stirs,
The straitest cell of secret thought
Is wholly hers.
Ay, were I parted, life would be
A helpless, heartless flight along
Blind tracks in vales of misery
And sloughs of wrong.
Nay, God forgive me!
Life would roll like some dim moon thro’ cloudy bars;
But to have loved her sets my soul
Among the stars.

Recordings
gollark: ddg! Schemata (not rust)
gollark: ddg! Schemata (rust)
gollark: Instead of not sleeping have you tried sleeping?
gollark: Technically, I don't think that as I have no theory of mind.
gollark: I'll write a macro(n) that declares all globals simultaneously then.

References
  1. A. C. Benson, "The Professor and Other Poems", London and New York, John Lane, 1900
  • Banfield, Stephen, Sensibility and English Song: Critical studies of the early 20th century (Cambridge University Press, 1985) ISBN 0-521-37944-X
  • Michael Kennedy, Portrait of Elgar (Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 0-19-315414-5
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