I breathed enough to take the Trick— And now, removed from Air— I simulate the Breath, so well— That One, to be quite sure— The Lungs are stirless—must descend Among the Cunning Cells— And touch the Pantomine—Himself, How numb, the Bellows feels!
Peacock Presumes to Die!
Song Cycle by Michael Ippolito (b. 1985)
for solo voice
1. I breathed enough to take the Trick—  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Go to the single-text view
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]2. This is the land the sunset washes  [sung text checked 1 time]
This is the land the sunset washes, These are the banks of the yellow sea; Where it rose, or whither it rushes, These are the western mystery! Night after night her purple traffic Strews the landing with opal bales; Merchantmen poise upon horizons, Dip, and vanish [with fairy sails]1.
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 Ippolito: "like Orioles"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
3. How soft a Caterpillar steps —  [sung text checked 1 time]
How soft a Caterpillar steps — I find one on my Hand From such a Velvet world it comes Such plushes at command Its soundless travels just arrest My slow — terrestrial eye Intent upon its own career What use has it for me —
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , "Die Raupe", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R.W. Franklin, Volume 3, Cambridge, MA and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998, Poem 1523.
Note: Two misprints have been corrected: Line 5, word 1 (formerly "It's"), and Line 7, word 2 (formerly "opon").
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
4. I reason, Earth is short —  [sung text checked 1 time]
I reason, Earth is short — And Anguish — absolute — And many hurt, But, what of that? I reason, we could die — The best Vitality Cannot excel Decay, But, what of that? I reason, that in Heaven — Somehow, it will be even — Some new Equation, given — But, what of that?
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890
See other settings of this text.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Eric Saroian5. To die — takes just a little while —  [sung text checked 1 time]
To die — takes just a little while — They say it doesn't hurt — It's only fainter — by degrees — And then — it's out of sight — A darker Ribbon — for a Day — A Crape upon the Hat — And then the pretty sunshine comes — And helps us to forget — The absent — mystic — creature — That but for love of us — Had gone to sleep — that soundest time — Without the weariness —
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
See other settings of this text.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]