For bass-baritone, mixed chorus, horn, and piano.
Poem: Emily Dickinson
Commissioned by Luke Zyla for the Parkersburg (WV) Choral Society.
Duration: 5 min 30 sec
Here is a recording.
Heart, not so heavy as mine
Wending late home —
As it passed my window
Whistled itself a tune —
A careless snatch — a ballad —
A ditty of the street
—Yet to my irritated Ear
An Anodyne so sweet —
It was as if a Bobolink
Sauntering this way
Carolled, and paused, and carolled —
Then bubbled slow away!
It was as if a chirping brook
Upon a dusty way —
Set bleeding feet to minuets
Without the knowing why!
Tomorrow, night will come again —
Perhaps, weary and sore —
Ah Bugle! By my window
I pray you pass once more.
Emily Dickinson wrote this poem is 1859. It depicts her reaction to hearing someone whistle a tune while walking by her window late at night. I have imagined that the tune she heard was Nelly Bly by Stephen Foster, published in 1850.