by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
I cautious scanned my little life
Language: English
I cautious scanned my little life, I winnowed what would fade From what would last till heads like mine Should be a-dreaming laid. I put the latter in a barn, The former blew away — I went one winter morning, And lo! my priceless hay Was not upon the “‘scaffold”’, Was not upon the “beam”, And from a thriving farmer A cynic I became. Whether a thief did it — Whether it was the wind — Whether Deity ’s guiltless My business is to find. So I begin to ransack — How is it, Heart, with thee? Art thou within the little barn Love provided thee?
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Further Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Alfred Leete Hampson, Little, Brown, and Company, 1929),
Text 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 Drew Hemenger (b. 1968), "I cautious scanned", 2009 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-10-24
Line count: 20
Word count: 106