Paroles - Musique Classique, Compositeur John Mitchell

ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT

Set by John Mitchell  (1941-) op. 48, no. 4 (1982, arr. 1993) 
Text by Robert Frost (1874-1963), from West-Running Brook, 1928.

acquainted.mp3 

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.