by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Adrift! A little boat adrift!
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER
Adrift! A little boat adrift!
And night is coming down!
Will no one guide a little boat
Unto the nearest town?
So Sailors say -- on yesterday--
Just as the dusk was brown
One little boat gave up its strife
And gurgled down and down.
So angels say -- on yesterday --
Just as the dawn was red
One little boat -- o'erspent with gales --
Retrimmed its masts -- redecked its sails --
[Exultant, onward sped!]1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 another version of Dickinson: "And shot -- exultant on!"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Es treibt umher! Ein kleines Boot!", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-21
Line count: 13
Word count: 70
À la dérive ! Un petit bateau à la...
Language: French (Français)  after the English
À la dérive ! Un petit bateau à la dérive !
Et la nuit est entrain de tomber !
Personne ne guidera un petit bateau
Jusqu'à la ville la plus proche ?
Ainsi les marins disent -- hier --
Juste comme le crépuscule devenait brun
Un petit bateau a abandonné sa lutte
Et a gargouillé de plus en plus profond.
Ainsi les anges disent -- hier --
Juste comme l'aube devenait rouge
Un petit bateau -- épuisé par les coups de vents --
A regréé ses mâts -- s'est paré de ses voiles --
Et est parti comme une flèche -- triomphant !
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, written c1858
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-09
Line count: 13
Word count: 94