Talk:The long day closes (Arthur Sullivan)

When I first studied the song, I was too busy with the music to notice the lyrics properly. I remember wondering why the composer did make such a fuss about the last two ("dreamless bed") lines. What is so special about being sleepy? A closer examination however yields a quite grim song about a person's life that has by and by lost its spark. The dreamless sleep-giver is none but Death...

The lines I like the most are

Sit by the silent hearth in calm endeavour

to count the sound of mirth, now dumb forever

The music becomes lively at "sounds of mirth", then turns off at "dumb", which our conductor wants us too sing with a very short vowel followed by a long "mmm" to illustrate the sound's disappearance (a practice that he normally vehemently disapproves of).

To do justice to the song, I tried to make a Dutch translation that matches the music. I could not manage to save the "silent hearth", but at least I could match the "sounds of mirth/dumb" musical effect.

De dag is over

Geen ster valt meer te zien, van de miljarden,

alleen de maan misschien, langs nevelflarden.

Het groen is vergaan, al het lentelover.

Geen klok hoort ge meer slaan, de dag is over.

Al wat het lot mij schonk, wie zal het weten?

Waar vreugde eens weerklonk: verstomd, vergeten.

Al wat mijn hart verhief verloor zijn tover,

’t was me onzegbaar lief – de dag is over.

Dit al te late uur doet 't licht verdwijnen.

’t Ooit vrolijk flakk’rend vuur kan enkel kwijnen.

Slaap, in vergetelheid, die d’ arme slover

van pijn en angst bevrijdt: de dag is over.