Steps Into Stillness (Vocal)

for baritone voice & piano

Whispered in the Afternoon
Autumn sun, thin and pale,
And fruit falls from the trees.
Silence lives in the blue
Of a long afternoon.

Dying sounds of metal;
And a white animal falls dead.
Crude songs of brown girls
Blown in the drifting leaves.

Mind of God colors dreams,
Feels madness’ gentle wings.
Shadows swirl around the hill
Of blackening decay.

Twilight of rest and wine.
Sad guitars drizzle night
And to the mellow lamp inside
You turn as in a dream.


In Winter
When the snow falls against the window,
Long sounds the evening bells,
The table is set for many
And the house is well prepared.

Some on the journey
Come to the gate on dark paths.
Golden is the tree of grace
Flowering from the earth’s cool sap.

The wanderer steps into stillness:
Anguish wears the threshold down to stone.
But in the pure, shimmering light
On the table are bread and wine.

Rondeau
Passing is the gold of the day,
The evening’s browns and blues:
The shepherd’s gentle flute has died
The evening’s blues and browns:
Passing is the gold of the day.

Closing Chord
The last, pale light went from the day,
The early passions have rustled down,
The holy wine of my joys spilled
Now my heart weeps in the night and listens

After the echo of its young celebrations,
Which trails off so placidly in the dark,
So shadowy, like wilted leaves falling
On an abandoned grave in autumn night.

-Georg Trakl
trans. Lawrence Lacing


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