Enchanting Water Sprite Poetry: Midnight Mood With Music

This ethereal, meditative reading of the 19th-century poem Midnight Mood by Henrik Ibsen invites us into a sanctuary of reflection in the forest at night, where the boundary between the waking world and the realm of dreams becomes thin. Along the river's brink, we listen to the Nokk, the shapeshifting Scandinavian water sprite who invites us to blend reflection and memory with the hope of a new future as we journey through the transformative inspiration of nature and the Nokk's song, toward the mystical dawn. Kevin Macleod adds to this track with his cinematic tune "Night Vigil" Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Transcript

Lists of the night come gliding over the river's brink Deep in the soul confiding,

Dreams of fair visions sink While living things are sleeping,

Elves bent on sport appear Through yawn-dark woods go creeping,

Midnight's hour is near Here is the spot for dreaming,

Here in the silent night Here where your heart's fond theming is with sweet music tight The tones that the wave produces ring out as though spirits played Sighs from yawn-forest spruces add to the serenade Here you can summon the hidden,

Memories from bygones waves Greet as dear friends the unbidden,

Ghosts that rise up from the grave Blend oh so well the darkling,

Clouds out of memory born With the gleam that's sparkling,

Hopes all resplendent dawn Comes there no music spilling,

Hither through night's calm mist Softly the waves are trilling,

Birds on their branches list On woods where elves play sprightly,

A sudden silence rests Moonlight shines so brightly through ancient oak tree crests Here you,

The sprite sing,

Staying close by the river's flow Down where the willow tree's swaying,

Or shadows the stream below He strikes the gold strings with his fingers,

Wrapped in the break's dim light The soft-sounding echo lingers,

Long in the still of night And nature right mournfully listens,

Attuned to the nook's sad lay Tear-like the dewdrop glistens,

Sparkling from every spray Swayed in the clouds' thin veiling,

Softly the moonlight beams Sadly the music's wailing,

Twines with the mournful themes When day shines here for us brightly,

Enoch keeps his riverbed But once the moon climbs its nightly,

Way o'er the spruce's head You will see him float on the river,

Singing of grief's untold Oh,

The lament could quiver,

High o'er the star's bright gold In song there are gentle forces,

There hallowed powers reside The goal that your heart endorses,

Though deep in the future it hide Will solace your breast some morrow,

And raise you high above earth Then each of the notes of sorrow,

Will blend to make blissful mirth

Reviews

Ohhh wow!!! So I clicked on this on accident and then I read the title and was immediately sold! I was like ok sure I'll check this out. Beautiful. Great piece and excellent reading. Thanks so much for this practice 🥰🙏🫶🍃