Insomnia

"Insomnia" is the third song of Lee Hoiby's Three Ages of Woman, which sets three poems of Elizabeth Bishop.

Date: 1990Composer: Lee HoibyText: Elizabeth BishopSong Collection: Three Ages of Woman

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Text

Insomnia
by Elizabeth Bishop

The moon in the bureau mirror
looks out a million miles
(and perhaps with pride, at herself,
but she never, never smiles)
far and away beyond sleep, or
perhaps she’s a daytime sleeper.

By the Universe deserted,
she’d tell it to go to hell,
and she’d find a body of water,
or a mirror, on which to dwell.
So wrap up care in a cobweb
and drop it down the well

into that world inverted
where left is always right,
where the shadows are really the body,
where we stay awake all night,
where the heavens are shallow as the sea
is now deep, and you love me.

Sheet Music

Insomnia

Composer(s): Lee Hoiby

Voice Type: High

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