Zwölf Gedichte von Emily Dickinson

Translations © by Bertram Kottmann

Song Cycle by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)

View original-language texts alone: Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson

1. Nature, the gentlest mother
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Nature, the gentlest mother
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest, -
Her admonition mild

In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon, -
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky,

With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
1.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Natur, gütigste Mutter,
duldsam mit jedem Kind,
für Schwächste und Missratenste
sie milde Worte find't:

der Wand'rer hört's im Wald
im hügeligen Feld
wie Eichhorns, Vogels Übermut
ihr Wort in Schranken hält.

Wie schön ist doch ihr Plaudern,
ein Sommernachmittag, -
ihr Hausstand, ihre Nähe;
und neiget sich der Tag,

ruft zwischen Wegen sie
zum schüchternen Gebet
das kleinste Heimchen auf,
die Blume ohne Wert.

Und schläft dann jedes Kind,
dann wendet sie sich ab,
bis ihre Lampen leuchten all;
vom Himmelszelt herab

mit übergroßer Liebe
und Sorge noch viel mehr,
den goldnen Finger vor dem Mund
sie allseits Ruh begehrt.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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This text was added to the website: 2013-08-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 100

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
2. There came a wind like a bugle
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
There came a wind like a bugle,
It quivered through the grass,
And a green chill upon the heat
So ominous did pass

We barred the windows and the doors
As from an emerald ghost
The doom's electric moccasin
That very instant passed.

On a strange mob of panting trees,
And fences fled away,
And rivers where the houses ran
The living looked that day,

The bell within the steeple wild,
The flying tidings whirled.
How much can come and much can go,
And yet abide the world!

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
2.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Ein Wind kam auf wie Hornsignal,
er rüttelte die Flur,
durch Hitze zog ein frostig Grün
unheilvoll seine Spur.

Wir sperrten Tür und Fenster zu
als käm’ ein grüner Geist-
des Unheils blitzgelad’ner Schuh
zog eben jetzt vorbei.

Auf Bäume, ächzend und bizarr,
auf Zäune, fortgeweht,
auf Flüsse, wo einst Häuser war’n
sah jeder, der noch lebt.

Die Sturmglocke hat wild gegellt,
trug es von Ort zu Ort -
was auch passiert auf dieser Welt,
sie dauert dennoch fort!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 16
Word count: 78

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
3. Why do they shut me out of Heaven?
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Why -- do they shut me out of Heaven?
Did I sing -- too loud?
But -- I can sing a little minor,
Timid as a bird.

Wouldn't the angels try me -- 
just -- once -- more --
Just -- see -- if I troubled them --
But don't -- shut the door!

Oh if I -- were the Gentlemen 
in the White Robes
and they -- were the little Hand -- that knocked --
Could -- I -- forbid?

Why do they shut me out of Heaven?
Did I sing too loud?

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
3.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Warum ist mir die Himmelstür versperrt?
Sang ich denn zu laut?
Wohl kann ich's etwas leiser,
wie ein Vogel, zag.

Würden es die Engel wagen
einmal mehr,
nur  zu sehen, ob ich stör' -  
jedoch, die Tür lasst auf!

Oh, wäre ich die Herren
in ihrem Lichtgewand,
und sie die kleine Hand, die pocht - 
könnt' ich es dann verwehren?

Warum ist mir die Himmelstür versperrt?
Sang ich denn zu laut?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2011 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 14
Word count: 69

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4. The world feels dusty
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
The world feels dusty,
when we stop to die...
We want the dew then
Honors taste dry...

Flags vex a dying face
But the least fan
stirred by a friend's hand
Cools like the rain

Mine be the ministry
when thy thirst comes...
Dews of thyself to fetch 
and holy balms.

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This version was published many times, including in the Atlantic Monthly (Volume 143, 1929), before the more authoritative versions came out with the more characteristic punctuation. There are also a few changes to the words in the last stanza. See below.

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
4.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Nach Asche schmeckt die Welt
in unsrer Todesstund' ...
Nach Tau uns dürstet dann,
viel Ehr verdorrt den Mund ...

Der Fahnen Wind erbost
ein sterbend Angesicht -
des Freundes Fächeln bloß
wie kühles Nass erquickt.

Lass mich dein Beistand sein,
wenn Durst dir letztmals brennt,
dir deinen Tau verleihn
und labend Sakrament.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2011 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 12
Word count: 50

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5. Heart, we will forget him
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Heart, we will forget him
You and I, tonight.
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me,
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you're lagging,
I may remember him!

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
5.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Herz, lass’ uns ihn vergessen
noch eh’ die Nacht anbricht.
Du die Wärme, die er gab,
und ich vergess’ das Licht.

Hast Du’s geschafft, Herz, sag mir’s,
streich’ ich ihn aus dem Sinn.
Rasch! Dass nicht, wenn du zögerst,
ich wieder denk an ihn.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Word count: 44

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6. Dear March, come in!
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat -
You must have walked -
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the bird's;
The maples never knew
That you were coming, - I declare,
How red their faces grew!
But, March, forgive me -
And all those hills
You left for me to hue,
There was no purple suitable,
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? that April?
Lock the door!
I will not be pursued!
He stayed away a year, to call
When I am occupied.
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come,
And blame is just as dear as praise
And praise as mere as blame.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
6.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Hei März, herein!
Wie freu ich mich!
Schon lang’ erwart' ich dich.
Leg ab den Hut -
du gingst zu Fuß -
ganz außer Atem bist!
Hei März, wie geht’s dir?
Und daheim?
Natur und du wohlauf?
Komm, März, mir fällt so vieles ein,
geh gleich mit mir hinauf!

Dein und auch Vogels Brief kam an;
Der Ahorn wusste nichts
von deinem Kommen,  -  glaube mir,
ganz rot wurd’ sein Gesicht!
Doch März, verzeih mir  -
und ihr Höh'n dort,
die ich noch färben sollt’,
das passend' Purpurrot war fort,
du hast’s zu früh geholt.

Wer klopft? April gar?
Türen zu!
Er bleibe mir vom Leib!
Ein Jahr lang blieb er weg, kommt jetzt,
wenn viel zu schaffen ist.
Doch Nichtiges sieht nichtig aus,
sobald du bei uns bist,
und Tadel groß wirkt wie ein Lob,
und Lob wie Tadel bloß.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 29
Word count: 137

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
7. Sleep is supposed to be
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Sleep is supposed to be,
By souls of sanity,
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down which on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be,
By people of degree,
The breaking of the day.

Morning has not occurred!
That shall aurora be
East of Eternity;

One with the banner gay,
One in the red array, -
That is the break of day.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
7.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Vernunft stimmt überein,
Schlaf stellt sich allgemein
geschlossnen Auges ein.

Schlaf, der großart’ge Ort
an dessen Grenze, hier wie dort
viel Zeugnis dauert fort!

Und Morgen sollte sein,
so kam man überein,
wenn sich der Tag stellt ein.

Noch ist nicht Morgens Zeit!
Erst, wenn Aurora steht bereit
östlich der Ewigkeit

mit leuchtendem Panier
in rosenroter Zier -,
erscheint der Tag uns hier.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 15
Word count: 63

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8. When they come back
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
When they come back -- if Blossoms do --
I always feel a doubt
If Blossoms can be born again
When once the Art is out --

When they begin, if Robins do,
I always had a fear
I did not tell, it was their last Experiment
Last Year,

When it is May, if May return,
Has nobody a pang
Lest on a Face so beautiful
We might not look again?

If I am there -- One does not know
What Party -- One may be
Tomorrow, but if I am there
I take back all I say --

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
8.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Kehr’n sie zurück - falls sie dies tun -
frag’ ich mich explizit,
ob Blüten wieder neu erblühn,
wenn sie einmal verblüht.

Ein neues Lied - falls es dies mag -
bange ist’s mir gewahr,
vielleicht war’s Kehlchens letztes Lied
vergang’nes Jahr.

Ist’s wieder Mai - falls er uns grüßt,
litt keiner eine Pein,
wenn sich sein schönes Angesicht
stellt strahlend wieder ein.

Stell ich mich ein - weiß man einst nicht,
wie ich erscheinen mag,
doch bin ich da, nehm' ich zurück
das Ganze, was ich sag.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 16
Word count: 83

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
9. I felt a funeral in my brain
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
I felt a funeral in my brain,
And mourners to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
That sense was breaking through.

And when they all were seated
A service like a drum
Kept beating, beating, till I thought
My mind was going numb.

And then I heard them lift a box,
And creak across my soul
With those same boots of lead, again.
Then space began to toll

As all the heavens were a bell,
And Being but an ear,
And I and silence some strange race,
Wrecked, solitary, here.

 ...

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
9.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Begräbnis fühlt’ ich im Gehirn:
Trauernde her und hin
bewegten und bewegten sich,
bis sich ergab ein Sinn.

Und als sie Platz genommen,
tönt dumpfer Trommelklang:
es schlug und schlug bis es mir schien,
es raubt mir den Verstand.

Dann hört’ ich, wie ein Sarg sich hob,
wie Stiefelknarren stach
durchs Herze mir, und dann im All
ein voll Geläut anbrach.

Die Himmel nur ein Glockenton,
ein Hören nur mein Sein,
mein Ich, die Ruh ein fremd Geschlecht,
gestrandet und allein.

[ ... ]

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 20
Word count: 103

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10. I've heard an organ talk sometimes
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
I've heard an organ talk sometimes
In a cathedral aisle
And understood no word it said
Yet held my breath the while...

And risen up and gone away,
A more Bernardine girl
And know not what was done to me
In that old hallowed aisle.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
10.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Manchmal hört’ ich im Kirchenschiff
der Orgel Lobgesang.
Obwohl ich keinen Ton verstand,
hielt ich den Atem an…

Dann stand ich auf und ging hinaus
und war ein frömm’res Kind -
und weiß nicht, was mit mir geschah
im heil’gen Kirchenschiff.

Text Authorship:

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Line count: 8
Word count: 40

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11. Going to Heaven!
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Going to Heaven!
I don't know when,
Pray do not ask me how, -
Indeed I'm too astonished
To think of answering you!
Going to Heaven! -
How dim it sounds!
And yet it will be done
As sure as flocks go home at night
Unto the shepherd's arm!

Perhaps you're going too!
Who knows?
If you should get there first
Save just a little place for me
Close to the two I lost!
The smallest "robe" will fit me,
And just a bit of "crown";
For you know we do not mind our dress
When we are going home. 


Going to Heaven! I'm glad I don't believe it
For it would stop my breath,
And I'd like to look a little more
At such a curious earth!
I am glad they did believe it
Whom I have never found
Since the mighty autumn afternoon
I left them in the ground.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
11.
Language: German (Deutsch) 
In den Himmel kommen!
Weiß nicht, wann,
bitte frag nicht, wie,  -
gewiss bin ich zu erstaunt,
darüber nachzudenken!
In den Himmel kommen! -
Wie vage, wie naiv dies klingt!
Und doch wird es geschehn,
so sicher wie die Herden ziehen heim zur Nacht
im Schutze ihres Hirten!

Vielleicht auch du!
Wer weiß?
Solltest du zuerst dort sein,
dann schau, dass ich ein Plätzchen habe,
nah den beiden Lieben, die ich hab verlor'n!
Das kleinste „Gewand“ wird mir wohl passen
und auch ein bisschen „Krone“;
denn du weißt, dass wir uns nicht ums Äuß’re kümmern,
wenn wir heimgehen.

Ich bin froh, nicht dran zu glauben:
Es nähme mir den Atem,
und gerne würd’ ich noch ein wenig
auf eine solch seltsame Erde schaun!
Ich bin froh, die beiden glaubten dran,
die ich nie mehr getroffen
seit jenem gewaltigen Nachmittag im Herbst
an dem ich sie in der Erde Schoß entließ.

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  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

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Line count: 27
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12. The chariot
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Because I would not stop for Death --
He kindly stopped for me --
The carriage held but just ourselves --
and Immortality.

We slowly drove -- he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too
For His Civility --

We passed the school, where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
a swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
12. Der Wagen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Weil ich nicht steh’n blieb wegen ihm,
da hielt der Tod für mich.
Im Wagen waren nur wir zwei
und das, was unsterblich.

Er fuhr gemächlich, ohne Hast
und ich legte beiseit,
alles was Müh’ und Muße war
aus lauter Höflichkeit.

Vorbei ging’s an dem Pausenhof,
da spielte man und rang,
vorbei an Feldern reifen Korns,
am Sonnenuntergang.

Dann Halt vor einem Haus, wie ein
gewölbter Erdenschoß
kaum sichtbar war sein Dach und sein
Gesims ein Hügel bloß.

Seit damals sind’s Jahrhunderte
doch fühlt ich diese Zeit
noch kürzer als den Tag an dem
es ging zur Ewigkeit.

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Translation of title "The chariot" = "Der Wagen"


This text was added to the website: 2015-06-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 98

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann