As imperceptibly as grief

As imperceptibly as grief
The Summer lapsed away --
Too imperceptible, at last,
To seem like Perfidy -- 

A Quietness distilled
As Twilight long begun,
Or Nature spending with herself
Sequestered Afternoon --

The Dusk drew earlier in --
The morning foreign shone --
A courteous, yet harrowing Grace,
As Guest, [that]1 would be gone --

And thus, without a Wing
Or service of a Keel
Our Summer made her light escape
Into the Beautiful.

by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) , no title, from Poems by Emily Dickinson, published 1891

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) , "Summer's lapse" [soprano, piano]
by Richard Kent , "As imperceptibly as grief" [female chorus], from Autumn songs, no. ?
by André Previn (1929-) , "As imperceptibly as grief", 1999, first performed 1999 [soprano and piano], from Three Dickinson Songs, no. 1.
by Wim de Ruiter (1943-) , "As imperceptibly as grief", 1983.
by Robert Thygerson , "As imperceptibly as grief", published 1980. [chorus: SSA, piano]

FRE French (Guy Laffaille)
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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