The Sun Won't Set

MRS. ANDERSSEN
The sun sits low,
Diffusing its usual glow.
Five o'clock,
Twilight...
Vespers sound,
And it's six o'clock,
Twilight
All around.

QUINTET:
But the sun sits low,
As low as it's going to go.

MR. ERLANSEN:
Eight o'clock...

MR. LINDQUIST:
Twilight...

WOMEN:
How enthralling!

MR. ERLANSEN:
It's nine o'clock...

MR. LINDQUIST:
Twilight...

WOMEN:
Slowly crawling
Towards--

MR. ERLANSEN:
Ten o'clock...

MR. LINDQUIST:
Twilight...

WOMEN:
Crickets calling...

QUINTET:
The vespers ring,
The nightingale's waiting to sing,
The rest of us wait on a string.
Perpetual sunset
Is rather an unset-
Tling thing.

The sun won't set,
It's fruitless to hope or to fret,
It's dark as it's going to get.
The hands on the clock turn,
But don't sing a nocturne
Just yet.

13.Interludes

MRS. NORDSTROM:
The sun sits low
And the vespers ring,

MR. ERLANSEN:
And the shadows grow
And the crickets sing,
And it's--

MRS. NORDSTROM:
Look! Is that the moon?

MR. ERLANSEN:
Yes.
What a lovely afternoon!

MRS. NORDSTROM:
Yes.

MR. ERLANSEN:
The evening air
Doesn't feel quite right...

MRS. NORDSTROM:
In the not-quite glare
Of the not-quite night,
And it's--
Wait! Is that a star?

MR. ERLANSEN:
No.
Just the glow of a cigar.

MRS. NORDSTROM:
Oh.

MR. LINDQUIST:
The atmosphere's becoming heady,
The ambiance thrilling.

MRS. SEGSTROM:
The spirits unsteady,
The flesh far from willing.

MR. LINDQUIST:
To be perpetually ready
Is far from fulfilling.

MRS. SEGSTROM:
But wait! The sun is dipping.

MR. LINDQUIST:
Where?--You're right! It's dropping.
Look! At last it's slipping.

MRS. SEGSTROM:
Sorry, my mistake, it's stopping.

QUINTET:
The light is pink
And the air is still
And the sun is slink-
Ing behind the hill.
And when finally it sets,
As finally it must,
When finally it lets
The moon and stars adjust,
When finally we greet the dark
And we're breathing amen,

MRS. ANDERSSEN:
Surprise of surprises,
It instantly rises
Again.