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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

An awful Tempest mashed the air
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRE GER ITA
An awful Tempest mashed the air --
The clouds were gaunt, and few --
A Black -- as of a Spectre's Cloak
Hid Heaven and Earth from view.

The creatures chuckled on the Roofs --
And whistled in the air --
And shook their fists --
And gnashed their teeth --
And swung their frenzied hair.

The morning lit -- the Birds arose --
The Monster's faded eyes
Turned slowly to his native coast --
And peace -- was Paradise!

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 John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "An awful tempest mashed the air", 1968, published 1978 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 4, Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., New York and Peer Musikverlag GMbH, Hamburg [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Una tempesta orribile", copyright © 2009, (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: 13
Word count: 69

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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