The sun kept setting, setting still

The sun kept setting, setting still;
No hue of afternoon
Upon the village I perceived,! -
From house to house 't was noon.

The dusk kept dropping, dropping still;
No dew upon the grass,
But only on my forehead stopped,
And wandered in my face.

My feet kept drowsing, drowsing still,
My fingers were awake;
Yet why so little sound myself
Unto my seeming make?

How well I knew the light before!
I could not see it now.
'T is dying, I am doing; but
I'm not afraid to know.

by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) , no title, from Poems of Emily Dickinson, published 1890

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) , "No dew upon the grass", published 1942 [low voice and piano], from Six Songs, no. ?
by Jake Heggie (1961-) , "The sun kept setting", 2000, first performed 2000 [soprano and piano], from How Well I Knew the Light, no. 2.
by Jake Heggie (1961-) , "The sun kept setting", 2001, first performed 2001 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from The Starry Night, no. 5.

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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