1992
There’s a Certain Slant of Light
Composed by 
Richard Pearson Thomas
Richard Pearson Thomas Text by 
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson At Last, To Be Identified Song Collection
"There's a Certain Slant of Light" is the fifth song of Richard Pearson Thomas' song cycle At Last, To Be Identified. The cycle sets the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Text
There’s a Certain Slant of Light
by Emily Dickinson
There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.
Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.
None may teach it anything,
‘T is the seal, despair, –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.
When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, ‘t is like the distance
On the look of death.
Sheet Music