Overlooking the River
Poet: Thomas Hardy
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Poem
Overlooking the River Stour |
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Finzi's title: Overlooking the River |
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| 1 | The swallows flew in the curves of an eight | |
| 2 | Above the river-gleam | |
| 3 | In the wet June's last beam: | |
| 4 | Like little crossbows animate | |
| 5 | The swallows flew in the curves of an eight | |
| 6 | Above the river-gleam. | |
| 7 | Planing up shavings of crystal spray | |
| 8 | A moor-hen darted out | |
| 9 | From the bank thereabout, | |
| 10 | And through the stream-shine ripped his way; | |
| 11 | Planing up shavings of crystal spray | |
| 12 | A moor-hen darted out. | |
| 13 | Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | |
| 14 | Dripped in monotonous green, | |
| 15 | Though the day's morning sheen | |
| 16 | Had shown it golden and honeybee'd; | |
| 17 | Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | |
| 18 | Dripped in monotonous green. | |
| 19 | And never I turned my head, alack, | |
| 20 | While these things met my gaze | |
| 21 | Through the pane's drop-drenched glaze, | |
| 22 | To see the more behind my back. . . . | |
| 23 | O never I turned, but let, alack, | |
| 24 | These less things hold my gaze! | |
(Hardy, 482) |
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Content/Meaning of the Poem:
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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
Musical Analysis
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Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes - Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation
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Pedagogical Considerations for Voice Students and Instructors:
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
| Pitch Analysis | ||||||
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| pitch | stanza 1 |
stanza 2 |
stanza 3 |
stanza 4 |
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highest |
A |
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G |
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F |
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E |
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D |
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middle C |
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B |
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A |
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G |
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F |
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lowest |
E |
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| Rhythm Duration Analysis of Vocal Line | |||||
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| stanza 1 | stanza 2 | stanza 3 | stanza 4 | total | |
16th note |
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8th note |
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dotted 8th |
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dotted quarter |
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triplet |
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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
Audio Recordings
To a Poet |
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The Songs of Gerald Finzi to Words by Thomas Hardy
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Gerald Finzi |
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The English Song Series - 12 |
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The following are comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song Overlooking The River. Dr. Lee extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 16, 2012. His dissertation dated 2003, is entitled:
A Performance Study of Gerald Finzi's Song Cycle
"Before and After Summer"
This excerpt begins on page 74 and concludes on page 76.
The preceding were comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song Overlooking The River. Dr. Lee extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 16th, 2012. His dissertation dated 2003, is entitled:
A Performance Study of Gerald Finzi's Song Cycle
"Before and After Summer"
The excerpt began on page 74 and concluded pn page 76.
The following is an analysis of **** by Gerhardus Daniël Van der Watt. Dr. Van der Watt extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on October 8th, 2010. His dissertation dated November 1996, is entitled:
The Songs of Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) To Poems by Thomas Hardy
This excerpt comes from Volume II and begins on page *** and concludes on page ***. To view the methodology used within Dr. Van der Watt's dissertation please refer to: Methodology - Van der Watt.
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Unpublished Analysis Excerpts
The following is an analysis of Overlooking The River by Curtis Alan Scheib. Dr. Scheib extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 17th, 2012. His dissertation dated 1999, is entitled:
Gerald Finzi's Songs For Baritone On Texts By Thomas Hardy: An Historical And Literary Analysis And Its Effect On Their Interpretation
This excerpt begins on page fifty-six and concludes on page fifty-eight.
Overlooking the River Stour |
||
|---|---|---|
Finzi's title: Overlooking the River |
||
| The swallows flew in the curves of an eight | ||
| Above the river-gleam | ||
| In the wet June's last beam: | ||
| Like little crossbows animate | ||
| The swallows flew in the curves of an eight | ||
| Above the river-gleam. | ||
| Planing up shavings of crystal spray | ||
| A moor-hen darted out | ||
| From the bank thereabout, | ||
| And through the stream-shine ripped his way; | ||
| Planing up shavings of crystal spray | ||
| A moor-hen darted out. | ||
| Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | ||
| Dripped in monotonous green, | ||
| Though the day's morning sheen | ||
| Had shown it golden and honeybee'd; | ||
| Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | ||
| Dripped in monotonous green. | ||
| And never I turned my head, alack, | ||
| While these things met my gaze | ||
| Through the pane's drop-drenched glaze, | ||
| To see the more behind my back. . . . | ||
| O never I turned, but let, alack, | ||
| These less things hold my gaze! | ||
(Hardy, 482) |
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Memory is the impetus here as well, a beautifully descriptive retelling of some long-ago scene. As in most of the other poems, there is also an antithesis presented at the end, though this time the intent is different. Instead of lamenting that the poet did not notice and appreciate the beauty as described, this time he mourns tht he looked too closely. Consequently, he never looked behind his back to see what or who, probably Emma, was there. Finzi sets his song in Eb Major, a key he seems to associate with this kind of warm, nostalgic memory. This song is also among the earlier ones in the set, its composition occurring probably in the mid-1930's. (Banfield, 241) It begins with two measures of keyboard polyphony (example 22) that both sets the nostalgic tone and introduces a sense of motion.
The structure of the first three verses of the poem, with the repeat of the opening lines at the end of each verse, causes a similar formal structure for Finzi. The repeated last lines are set to the same music as the opening ones, with the phrases in the middle in contrast. The meter stays in a steadily moving 4/4 throughout the three verses. At verse four, the movement is slowed from sixteenths to eights, in a now flexible meter. The antithesis brings a return to more regular meter, though the slower, more reflective pulse is retained. The song ends with an arpeggiated chord on the second scale degree, both the chord and the movement bringing the poet's gaze upward.
The preceding was an analysis of Overlooking The River by Curtis Alan Scheib. Dr. Scheib extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 17th, 2012. His dissertation dated 1999, is entitled:
Gerald Finzi's Songs For Baritone On Texts By Thomas Hardy: An Historical And Literary Analysis And Its Effect On Their Interpretation
The excerpt began on page fifty-six and concluded on page fifty-eight.