The three poems in this piece deal with various forms of loss and grief. It struck me – every day speaks of grief that is sudden and shocking. Dickinson speaks figuratively about being struck by lightning, and she allows for no resolution: this is a pain from which it seems she may never recover.

She went as quiet as the dew speaks of futility and despair. The poem tells of a woman who has recently died, and her exit is compared to the insignificance of dew leaving a flower each morning. Whether this woman was real or fictional, her story portrays those whose lives remain shrouded in relative anonymity.

I died for beauty – but was scarce is distinct in that the speaker, having recently “died for beauty,” is lying alone in a tomb. In the adjacent tomb is lain someone who has “died for truth,” and the two begin discussing the commonality of truth and beauty. In this poem, one senses Dickinson’s resigned acceptance in the inevitability of our fate.

Year written: 2003

Voicing: SSA, piano