A Song of Joys

"A Song of Joys" is the first song of Simon Sargon's song cycle A Clear Midnight: Six Songs set to Poems of Walt Whitman for Baritone, Horn, and Piano.

Sheet music for Mr. Sargon's songs is available directly through the composer by contacting the following address: [email protected].

The audio selection provided features Donnie Ray Albert, baritone, Gregory Hustis French horn, and Simon Sargon, piano. Used with the permission of the composer.

Date: 1995Composer: Simon SargonText: Walt WhitmanSong Collection: A Clear Midnight

Print vitals & song text

Text

A Song of Joys
by Walt Whitman

O to make the most jubilant song!
Full of music—full of manhood, womanhood, infancy!
Full of common employments—full of grain and trees.

O for the voices of animals—O for the swiftness and balance of
fishes!
O for the dropping of raindrops in a song!
O for the sunshine and motion of waves in a song!

O the joy of my spirit—it is uncaged—it darts like lightning!
It is not enough to have this globe or a certain time,
I will have thousands of globes and all time.

O the engineer’s joys! to go with a locomotive!
To hear the hiss of steam, the merry shriek, the steam-whistle, the
laughing locomotive!
To push with resistless way and speed off in the distance.

Related Information

Audio

Track:

    Support us and help us grow

    Dear friends, Thank you for helping us build a comprehensive online archive of American song. Your gift is greatly appreciated.