Safe in their alabaster chambers

Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.

Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadence, -
Ah, what sagacity perished here!

Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.

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 Arthur Farwell (1872-1952) , "Safe in their alabaster chambers", op. 105 no. 2.
by Brian Holmes (1946-) , "Safe in their alabaster chambers" [soprano, chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra], from Amherst Requiem, no. 2.
by Bain Murray (1926-) , "Safe in their alabaster chambers", published 1968. [chorus: SATB, e horn and violoncello or organ]
by Daniel Pinkham (1923-) , no title, published 1974 [medium voice and electronic tape], from Safe in their Alabaster Chambers, no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Classical Vocal Repertoire