Henry Berne

I set "And Now the Beautiful Rain" for mixed chorus and piano to a poem by Henry Berne:

"A little wind-squall from a dark sky
shakes the trees in leafy dance:
so much movement of leaves on vines,
so much movement on leaves and vines.
Skirts shimmer and sweep as on ladies
in an old fashioned ball room a waltz, perhaps,
always graceful, we think, were things simpler then?

And now the beautiful rain.
Silver streams paint dry leaves bright green.
washing the dullness off -
repainting the scene like touching up
an old fresco worn by the years.
Now sun crows about the diamonds
it made on wet leaves.
the hint of autumn always does this,
this last dance before the leaves
dry up and lose their green,
and older people count the years."