in the time of the winter morn

$2.00 | (SATB coming soon)

William Moore's poem is a nostalgic parallel on the sensory experience of changing seasons, and the emotional impact of a breakup - all in the form of a love letter. 

The first two verses are bittersweet, embracing the beauty of the transition from fall to winter - like fiery leaves that have yet to fall, and bells changing their tunes with the church year. As the mood shifts with the form of the poem, the undercurrent of heartbreak comes into sharper focus, marked by an abrupt and unforgiving change in texture and tonality. In the winter's first moment of overwhelming cold, the voice of the "one lone heart" feels the true absence of the loving warmth of summer - and their lost love.

William Moore was an African-American poet and journalist, and this poem is from The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922).

This work was commissioned by Vox Venti and Ed Frazier Davis, and premiered on December 14, 2024 in Chicago, IL.