Sure on this shining night
Of star made shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wand’ring far
alone
Of shadows on the stars.
James Agee
b. 1909, Knoxville, Tenn. – d. 1955, New York, New York
James Agee was known primarily for his work as a journalist, screenwriter and prose author. His account of Depression era sharecroppers, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, is probably his best known work, followed by the semi-autobiographical A Death in the Family, describing a family whose father dies suddenly in an accident, as did Agee’s own father. However, he was also a poet, and in fact, all of his prose works were very poetic and almost deserve to be called long prose-poems.
Sure On This Shining Night was part of a collection, Permit Me Voyage, published in 1934. This beautiful poem was later set to music a song by the American composer Samuel Barber. There are many versions of it floating around on the Internet…I prefer the low-voice setting, for tenor or baritone, but the soprano soloist versions are also lovely. I also prefer the simple piano accompaniment because I think it lets the words be the focus.
But if you like something richer, there’s also a great choral version by the American composer Morton Lauridsen which is pretty stunning!
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