The hills step off into whiteness. People or stars Regard me sadly, I disappoint them. The train leaves a line of breath. O slow Horse the colour of rust, Hooves, dolorous bells ---- All morning the Morning has been blackening, A flower left out. My bones hold a stillness, the far Fields melt my heart. They threaten To let me through to a heaven Starless and fatherless, a dark water.
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Authorship:
- by Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963), "Sheep in Fog", appears in Ariel, first published 1965 [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 Frank Ahrold (b. 1931), "Sheep in Fog" [ mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, bassoon, violoncello, vibraphone, percussion ], from Three Poems of Sylvia Plath [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maarten Altena (b. 1943), "Sheep in fog", from Three Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "Sheep in Fog", op. 104 no. 3 (2000), from Four Poems by Sylvia Plath, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Victoria Brago
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 69