Wild nights | Wild nights! -- Wild nights!

Wild nights! ‑‑ Wild nights!

Language: English

Available translation(s): CHI FRE GER GER ITA

Wild nights! -- Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile -- the [Wind]¹ --
To a heart in port, --
Done with the Compass, --
Done with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden --
Ah! the Sea!
Might I but moor -- Tonight --
In thee!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ note: sometimes "Winds". Hoiby, Leisner, Rusche, A. Thomas: "Winds"

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 John Coolidge Adams (b. 1947), "Wild nights", 1980-1, first performed 1981 [ chorus and orchestra ], from Harmonium, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dace Aperans (b. 1953), "Wild nights! -- Wild nights!", 1994, from Three Songs with poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Wild nights", c1931 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Emily Dickinson [sung text checked 1 time]
by Elizabeth Coard , "Wild nights!", copyright © 1984 [ piano and mezzo-soprano ], from Emily Dickinson Song Cycle , no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gloria Coates (b. 1938), "Wild nights! Wild nights!", from 15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Sharon Davis (b. 1937), "Wild nights", published 1981 [ soprano and piano trio ], from Three Moods of Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]
by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Wild nights! Wild nights!", 1978, published 1978 [ SATB chorus and piano ], Hinshaw Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Rudolf Escher (1912 - 1980), "Wild nights", 1955, published 1956 [ mixed chorus of 7-10 voices ], from Songs of Love and Eternity, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Scott Gendel (b. 1977), "Wild Nights!", 2005 [ voice and piano ], from Forgotten Light, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Peter Golub , "Wild nights", 1977 [ soprano, flute, and harp ], from 3 Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Wild nights", 1986/7, published 1988, from Four Dickinson Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Lori Laitman (b. 1955), "Wild nights", first performed 1995 [ soprano and piano ], from Days and Nights, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by David Leisner (b. 1958), "Wild Nights", 1986 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Confiding, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Marjorie M. Rusche , "Wild nights", 1994 [ soprano, clarinet, violin, and cello ], from Songs of Love and Death, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Valerie Saalbach (b. 1951), "Wild Nights!" [ voice and piano ], from Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ruth Schonthal (1924 - 2006), "Wild nights", 1977, first performed 1978 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Songs of Love and Sorrow, no. 2, Furore Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Pearson Thomas (b. 1957), "Wild nights! Wild nights!", from At last, to be identified, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964), "Wild nights! -- Wild nights!", 2002, first performed 2002 [ solo soprano, SATB chorus and orchestra ], from Chanting to Paradise, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by George Theophilus Walker (b. 1922), "Wild nights", first performed 1982 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Chee Yean Wong (b. 1979), "Wild Nights!" [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 2 [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: 12
Word count: 43