[Winifred:]
The lazy town is dreaming,
And Nature is sleeping;
Across the waters gleaming
Black shadows are creeping;
I catch where the dim shapes darken,
Gentle splash of oar-blades swinging,
And, watching their flight, I hearken
To the gondoliers softly singing.
Shadows are falling,
Boatmen are calling;
Soft in its lilting strain
Echoes their old refrain;
Swelling and sighing and waning and dying,
Backward and forward, seaward and shoreward,
Faintly I hear their call
Fading away
On the breast of the bay
Where the shadows fall.
When hushed in silent slumbers
The city is lying,
And still in countless numbers
Those dim shapes are plying,
While none but the night winds listen,
And the moon creeps out of hiding,
Then silvery wakes will glisten
From the gondolas onward gliding.
Shadows are falling,
Boatmen are calling;
Soft in its lilting strain
[Man:]
Soft in its lilting strain
[Winifred:]
Echoes their old refrain;
[Girl:]
Echoes their old refrain;
[Winifred:]
Swelling and sighing and waning and dying,
Backward and forward, seaward and shoreward,
Faintly I hear their call
[Others:]
Faintly I hear their call
[Winfred:]
Fading away
On the breast of the bay
Where the shadows fall.
[Chorus:]
Shadows are falling,
Boatmen are calling;
Soft in its lilting strain
[Men:]
Soft in its lilting strain
[Ladies:]
Echoes their old refrain;
[Winifred and Men:]
Echoes their old refrain;
[Ladies:]
Swelling and sighing and waning and dying,
Backward and forward, seaward and shoreward,
Faintly I hear their call
[Men:]
Faintly I hear their call
[All:]
Fading away
On the breast of the bay
Where the shadows fall.