by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The sky is low, the clouds are mean
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER GER
The sky is low, the clouds are mean,
A travelling flake of snow
Across a barn or through a rut
Debates if it will go.
A narrow wind complains all day
How some one treated him;
Nature, like us, is sometimes caught
Without her diadem.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ronald A. Beckett , "The sky is low", from My Letter to the world, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anthony Iannaccone (b. 1943), "The sky is low, the clouds are mean", published 1979 [ mixed chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Layton Kent (b. 1916), "The sky is low, the clouds are mean", published 1966 [ SSA chorus and piano ], from Autumn songs, no. 3, New York: Lawson-Gould [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le Ciel est bas -- les Nuages ont l'air méchants", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 45
Tief hängt der Himmel, Wolken drohn;
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Tief hängt der Himmel, Wolken drohn;
die Schneeflock' auf der Reis'
denkt nach, ob einen Weg sie von
der Spur zur Scheune weiß.
Der Wind, verzwängt, verflucht sein Teil,
so schlecht ergeht's ihm schon:
Natur, wie wir, vergißt zuweil
auf Ihre Sternenkron'.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 8
Word count: 42