by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
God made a little gentian
Language: English
God made a little gentian; It tired to be a rose And failed, and all the summer laughed. But just before the snows There came a purple creature That ravished all the hill; And summer hid her forehead, And mockery was still. The frosts were her condition; The Tyrian would not come Until the North evoked it. “Creator! shall I bloom?”
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown, 1924; Bartleby.com, 2000. http://www.bartleby.com/113/2048.html
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "God made a little gentian", 2010 [ soprano and piano ], from Upon this Summer's Day -- 8 songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-03-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 61