Wild nights! -- Wild nights! (Dickinson) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

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