by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The night was wide, and furnished scant
Language: English
The night was wide, and furnished scant With but a single star That often as a cloud it met Blew out itself for fear. The wind pursued the little bush And drove away the leaves November left, then clambered up And fretted in the eaves. No squirrel went abroad. A dog's belated feet, Like intermittent plush, he heard Adown the empty street. To feel if blinds be fast, And closer to the fire Her little rocking chair to draw, And shiver for the poor, The housewife's gentle task. "How pleasanter," said she Unto the sofa opposite, "The sleet than May, no thee."
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title [author's text not yet checked 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 Gordon Getty (b. 1933), "The night was wide" [soprano and piano], from The White Election - A Song Cycle for soprano and piano on 32 poems of Emily Dickinson, Part 2 : So We Must Meet Apart, no. 15. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 102