by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
I held a jewel in my fingers
Language: English
I held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers, - The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891 [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 Gloria Coates (b. 1938), "I held a jewel in my fingers", from 15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Mollincone (b. 1946), "I held a jewel", published 1966 [ SSAA chorus and piano or harp ], from Five Poems of Love [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (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: 44