by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Beauty be not caused, ‑ it is
Language: English
Available translation(s): GER ITA
Beauty [be]1 not caused, - it is;
Chase it and it ceases,
Chase it not and it abides,
Overtake the creases
in the meadow
when the wind
runs its long fingers through it?
Deity will see to it
that you never do it.
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View original text (without footnotes)
1 Dougherty: "is"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Henry Leland Clarke (1907 - 1992), "Beauty be not caused, - it is", 1965 [ medium voice and violin or viola ], from Emily Dickinson Canons [sung text not yet checked]
- by Celius Dougherty (1902 - 1986), "Beauty is not caused", published 1948 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by George Perle (1915 - 2009), "Beauty be not caused - it is" [ voice and piano ], from Thirteen Dickinson Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2004-05-27
Line count: 9
Word count: 43
Schönheit ist ohn' Grund, ‑ sie ist;
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Schönheit ist ohn' Grund, - sie ist;
jagst du ihr nach, enteilt sie,
jagst du sie nicht, verweilt sie:
der Halme Wogen einzuhol'n,
wenn Wind
durch Wiesen
streicht?
Ein Gott wird dich bewahr'n,
dies jemals zu erfahr'n.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-17
Line count: 9
Word count: 37