A spider | A spider sewed at night

A spider sewed at night

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER GER ITA

A spider sewed at night
Without a light
Upon an arc of white.
If ruff it was of dame
Or shroud of Gnome,
Himself, himself inform.
Of immortality
His strategy
Was physiognomy.

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 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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "A spider", published 1971 [ SA chorus and piano ], from Nature [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "A spider", published 1944 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Emily Dickinson: Nature Time and Space - Volume 1, two settings [sung text checked 1 time]
by Donald Grantham (b. 1947), "A spider sewed at night", published 1983 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Seven Choral Settings of Poems by Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]
by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "A spider sewed at night", 1987 [ soprano and piano ], from Night Dances - 6 songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 32