Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).
Reminder: You must always use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
A narrow Fellow in the Grass Occasionally rides - You may have met Him - did you not His notice sudden is The Grass divides as with a Comb - A spotted shaft is seen - And then it closes at your feet And opens further on - He likes a Boggy Acre A floor too cool for Corn Yet when a [Boy]1, and Barefoot - I more than once at [Noon]2 Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash Unbraiding in the Sun When stooping to secure it It wrinkled and was gone - Several of Nature's People I know, and they know me - I feel for them a transport Of cordiality - But never met this Fellow Attended, or alone Without a tighter breathing And Zero at the Bone -
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R.W. Franklin, Volume 2, Cambridge, MA and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998, Poem 1096 (Version B).
1 Holmes: "child"
2 Holmes: "morn"
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title [author's text checked 1 time 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 Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "A narrow fellow in the grass" [ treble chorus and piano ], from Emily's Day, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Julian Philips (b. 1969), "The Snake", 1997/2002, published 2007 [ high voice and piano ], from An Amherst Bestiary, no. 18, Peters Edition [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Brian Holmes , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-18
Line count: 24
Word count: 125
Ein schlankes Kerlchen in dem Gras Fährt ab und zu daher - Du bist ihm vielleicht begegnet - nicht Man wird sehr plötzlich auf es aufmerksam. Das Gras ist wie von einem Kamm gescheitelt - Ein gesprenkelter Stab lässt sich blicken - Dann schließt es sich zu deinen Füßen Und öffnet sich weiter fort - Es mag einen sumpfigen Acker Einen Boden, für Korn zu kühl Doch als ich noch [Knabe]1 und barfuß - Ging ich mehr als einmal [Mittags]2 Wie ich meinte, an einem Peitschenstiel vorbei Sich aufwickelnd in der Sonne Als ich mich bückte es zu schnappen Runzelte es sich und war fort - Manche aus dem Volke der Natur Kenne ich, und sie kennen mich - Für sie empfinde ich ein Entzücken Der Herzlichkeit - Aber diesem Kerlchen begegnete ich Mit andern oder allein Nie ohne ein Abschneiden des Atems Und eisige Kälte in den Knochen -
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslations of titles:
"A narrow fellow in the grass" = "Ein schlankes Kerlchen in dem Gras"
"The Snake" = "Die Schlange"
1 Holmes: "Kind"
2 Holmes: "frühs"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-28
Line count: 24
Word count: 142