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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

I reason, Earth is short —
Language: English 
I reason, Earth is short —
And Anguish — absolute —
And many hurt,
But, what of that?

I reason, we could die —
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that?

I reason, that in Heaven —
Somehow, it will be even —
Some new Equation, given —
But, what of that?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890 [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 Scott Gendel (b. 1977), "I reason", 2005 [ voice and piano ], from Forgotten Light, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Michael Ippolito (b. 1985), "I reason, Earth is short —", 2014 [ solo voice ], from Peacock Presumes to Die!, no. 4, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ezra Laderman (1924 - 2015), "I reason, Earth is short —", subtitle: "Melodrama", published 1970 [ 2 narrators, piano, and orchestra ], from Magic Prison [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "I reason, Earth is short", 1999 [ soprano and piano ], from Sunday Songs, no. 3, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Eric Saroian

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 55

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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