This is a song sung by the sun (in four-part harmony, of course) as it rises in the morning, passes through its noon meridian, falls to the horizon, and finally fades from the sky at night. Morning is the time to open; early afternoon, the time to hold on; and twilight, the time to let go. Intimations of mortality, I guess. Urban dwellers may not make much of the Theme 2 stanzas; but those who live in the country are likely to know these common types of aves, fauna, and flora intimately.
To simplify the textual summary, the words below follow (with some exceptions) the soprano line.
Flame, flame the black grave.
Look east, see my glare
fill each empty place.
From night's tomb make fire, time and space.
Theme 1 (Dawn) [m.19-36]
Open your eyes, open your hands
Open your heart and find light's way
Open your time, your own time
Open your space, your own space
Open your world of play
This is your time, this is your space
This is your time and space
This is your smile, your laughter too, your laugh
This is your one and only day.
Theme 2 (Morning) [m.37-52]
Catbirds and cardinals,
Juncos and chickadees,
Rose-breasted grossbeaks and
Swallows and meadow larks,
Foxes and fieldmice,
Black moles and white-tailed deer,
Red squirrels and chipmunks and
Racoons and coyotes,
Dogwood, Milkweed
Corn flower, Golden rod,
May apples, butter cups,
Wild grape and bittersweet,
Play in the sunshine,
Run in the morning light,
Come in the springtime and
Go at the end of fall,
Bridge (Noon) [m.53-57]
Noon, noon, noon, noon, noon,
Now it's meridian, meridian, meridian,
Now I come, come down.
Theme 1 (Afternoon) [m.58-69]
Hold on to fire, hold on to play
Hold on to time and space
Your lingering time, your lingering space
Lingering your dearest face
Your dearest time and space
Shadows of afternoon,
Stillness of afternoon,
Joyful the afternoon,
fall, falling.
Theme 1 (Late Afternoon) [m.70-80]
Let go of time,
Let go of space and time,
Loosening of time and space
See now my setting face
Now the horizon comes close,
The horizon, horizon, horizon, ho-
rizon, rizon, rizon, rizon, ri - zon
Cadenza (Twilight) [m.81-82]
o o o o o o o o
i i i i i
Coda (Sunset) [m.83-87]
Fade, fade the late sky
Time for my final sleep
My disappearing.