Poems of Felicia Hemans in Forget Me Not, 1828/Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants

by Felicia Hemans

This was set to music by Felicia’s sister, Miss Harriet Browne.
Here taken from Felicia Hemans Collected Poems, 1872

EVENING SONG OF THE TYROLESE PEASANTS.^[1]

Come to the sunset tree!
 The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
 And the reaper’s work is done.
 
The twilight star to heaven,
 And the summer dew to flowers,
And rest to us is given
 By the cool, soft evening hours.
 
Sweet is the hour of rest!
 Pleasant the wind’s low sigh,
And the gleaming of the west,
 And the turf whereon we lie;
 
When the burden and the heat
 Of labor’s task are o’er,
And kindly voices greet
 The tired one at his door,
 
Come to the sunset tree!
 The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
 And the reaper’s work is done.
 
Yes! tuneful is the sound
 That dwells in whispering boughs;
Welcome the freshness round,
 And the gale that fans our brows!
 
But rest more sweet and still
 Than ever nightfall gave,
Our longing hearts shall fill
 In the world beyond the grave.
 
There shall no tempest blow,
 No scorching noontide heat;
There shall be no more snow,^[2]
 No weary, wandering feet.
 
So we lift our trusting eyes,
 From the hills our fathers trode,
To the quiet of the skies,
 To the Sabbath of our God.
 
Come to the sunset tree!
 The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
 And the reaper’s work is done.

1. "The loved hour of repose is striking. Let us come to the sunset tree."—See Captain Sherer's interesting Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in Germany.
2. " Wohl ihm, er ist hingegangen
   Wo kein schnee mehr ist"
   Schiller's Nadowessiche Todtenklage