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
Der Himmel tief, fies das Gewölk
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Der Himmel tief, fies das Gewölk,
die Schneeflock’ zaudernd weht,
fragt, ob die Reise übern Stall
oder zur Radspur geht.
Den Tag lang klagt ein dünner Wind
was ihm nicht war genehm;
manchmal erscheint Natur wie wir
ohne ihr Diadem.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2019-10-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 40