by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas Wind —
It walked as wet as any Wave
But swept as dry as Sand —
When it had pushed itself away
To some remotest Plain
A coming as of Hosts was heard
That was indeed the Rain —
It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
It warbled in the Road —
It pulled the spigot from the Hills
And let the Floods abroad —
It loosened acres, lifted seas
The sites of Centres stirred
Then like Elijah rode away
Upon a Wheel of Cloud —
Note: The second line is used by Tōru Takemitsu for the title of a piece for flute, viola and harp (1992).
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
[ None yet in the database ]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Comme la Pluie ça bruissait jusqu'à ce que ça tourne", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , no title, copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2019-03-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 99
Wie Regen klang's, bis es schwoll an
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Wie Regen klang's, bis es schwoll an,
dann wusst’ ich, 's war der Wind -
es nahte, nass wie Wellengang
doch trocken trieb’s, wie Sand -
verzogen hatte sich’s scheinbar
ins tiefste Hinterland,
da hört man’s kommen wie ein Heer
es kam wie eine Wand.
Es füllte Brunnen, Bach und Teich,
ging schmetternd seinen Gang -
die Berge hielten ihm nicht stand,
es stürzt hinab den Hang -
Erdreich verschwand, das Wasser stieg,
Gebäu verlor den Stand;
dann ward's wie Elija entrückt
auf einem Wolkenrad.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translator's note for line -2: 2 Kön 2,11
Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), "Like Rain it sounded till it curved", written 1872
This text was added to the website: 2019-03-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 85