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Icicles filled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro. The mood Traced in the shadow An indecipherable cause.
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Text Authorship:
- by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, first published 1917 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Boris Blacher (1903 - 1975), no title, 1957 [ voice and string quartet ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lukas Foss (b. 1922), no title, 1978, copyright © 1980 [ soprano, piano, flute, 2 tapes, and percussion ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, New York, Pembroke [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), no title, 1947, published 1951, from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Angela Elizabeth Slater , "Barbaric glass", 2019, copyright © 2019 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8
Publisher: Composers Edition [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Louise Juliette Talma (1906 - 1996), no title, 1979 [ tenor or soprano, oboe, flute or violin, and piano ], from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 7
Word count: 27
Des glaçons remplissaient la longue fenêtre Avec du verre barbare. L'ombre du merle Le traversait, allant et venant. Son humeur Traçait sur la neige Un motif indéchiffrable.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 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 Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, first published 1917
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 7
Word count: 27