Put off the serpent girdle

partsong for women's voices

General Information – Performing Forces – Manuscript – Publication – Recordings – Text

General Information:

Composition:  Composed 1949–50. This song was originally part of Act 2 in the opera Troilus and Cressida. He composed new material—a bridge linking the two verses, and a coda—in preparation for the song's separate publication in 1967. In 1972, Walton removed the partsong from the opera.

First Performance:  Unknown

Duration:  About 3 minutes

Text:
Verse 1: Christopher Hassall (1912–63)
Verse 2: Paul Dehn (1912–76). Written in February 1967.
Click here for complete text.

Tempo:  Allegretto  [54 m.]

C. Number:  C62b

Performing Forces:

Women's voices (SSA)

Manuscript:

See manuscript information for Troilus and Cressida.

Publication:

Oxford University Press, 1967 and 1999. Materials available for purchase:

Recordings:  This work has never been recorded.

Text:

        Verse 1:

Put off the serpent girdle,
Your motto'd rings lay by,
And let the dark array you
In proud simplicity;

For you must go a journey
Beyond the fringe of day,
And sombre falls the shadow
That summons you away.

A sea wind, coldly veering,
Carries the taste of dreams
From labyrinths of coral
Where lie the sleeping streams.

                        — Christopher Hassall (1912–63)

        Verse 2:

Put off the serpent girdle,
Unbind your braided hair
And lie where you may listen
To voices in the air

That sing at night of nothing,
And on the water move
As silently as starlight,
As quietly as love.

So sleep, before Apollo
Rides on the risen sun.
Another day is ended;
Tomorrow, not begun.

                        — Paul Dehn (1912–76)

WilliamWalton.net – Catalogue of Works – Choral Music