by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Love is anterior to life
Language: English
Love is anterior to life, Posterior to death, Initial of creation, and The exponent of breath.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Emily Dickinson, Poems: Third Series, Boston : Robert's Brothers, 1896, p.74
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), "Love", appears in Love [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 Reena Esmail (b. 1983), "Love is Anterior to Life", 2016, first performed 2016 [ women's chorus, string orchestra, flute and harp ], from I Rise: Women in Song, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-18
Line count: 4
Word count: 16