The Ocean (1825)
Poem by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1806-1864)
Music by Ed Lundergan
All parts together
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
Poem
The Ocean has its silent caves,
Deep, quiet, and alone;
Though there be fury on the waves,
Beneath them there is none.
The awful spirits of the deep
Hold their communion there;
And there are those for whom we weep,
The young, the bright, the fair.
Calmly the wearied seamen rest
Beneath their own blue sea.
The ocean solitudes are blest,
For there is purity.
The earth has guilt, the earth has care,
Unquiet are its graves;
But peaceful sleep is ever there,
Beneath the dark blue waves.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1806 - 1864)
biography
About The Ocean
SSCC is once again delighted to feature the work of one of our esteemed choir members, composer, and conductor, Edward Lundergan. Dr. Lundergan holds a M.M. from the University of Michigan and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. Before retiring, Dr. Lundergan was Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Music Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz as well as the Artistic Director of Kairos: A Consort of Singers. A native of Salem, MA, Dr. Lundergan and his wife, Carol, have performed regularly with SSCC since 2022. We are delighted to premier his work, The Ocean, commissioned in honor of Salem’s 400th anniversary. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote his poem “The Ocean” in 1825, when he was 21, reflecting on the sea's dual nature—furious waves above, quiet depths below. The poem was possibly influenced by his sea captain father's loss at sea when Hawthorne was young - it features a theme of contrasts between life's struggles and death's peace. The Ocean was published in The Salem Gazette that same year.