Singing the Living Tradition ‎#52

52. In Sweet Fields of Autumn

1 In sweet fields of autumn the gold grain is falling,
the white clouds drift lonely, the wild swan is calling.
Alas for the daisies, the tall fern and grasses,
when wind-sweep and rainfall fill lowlands and passes.

2 The snows of December shall fill windy hollow;
the bleak rain trails after, the March wind shall follow.
The deer through the valleys leave print of their going;
and diamonds of sleet mark the ridges of snowing.

3 The stillness of death shall stoop over the water,
the plover sweep low where the pale streamlets falter;
but deep in the earth clod the black seed is living;
when spring sounds her bugles for rousing and giving.

Text Information

• First Line: In sweet fields of autumn the gold grain is falling
• Title: In Sweet Fields of Autumn
• Author: Elizabeth Madison, b. 1883
• Meter: 12.12.12.12.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1993
• Topic: Transcending Mystery and Wonder: Autumn; Death and Life; Nature and the Countryside; Seasons and Cycles
• Copyright: Used by perm. of Hodgin Press

Tune Information

• Name: CRADLE SONG
• Composer: William James Kirkpatrick, 1838-1921
• Harmonizer: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958
• Meter: 12.12.12.12.
• Key: F Major or modal
• Copyright: Harm. © 1931 Oxford University Press