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.
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 [may]1, I always had a fear I did not tell, it was their last Experiment Last Year, When it is May, if May return, [Had]2 nobody a pang Lest [in]3 a Face so beautiful [He]4 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 --
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Copland: "do"
2 Coulthard: "Hath", Copland: "Has"
3 Coulthard, Copland: "on"
4 Copland: "We"
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Further poems of Emily Dickinson [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 Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "When they come back", 1949-50, published 1951 [ voice, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean Coulthard (1908 - 2000), "When they come back -- if Blossoms do" [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Quan elles retornin", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Quand elles reviennent, si les fleurs reviennent", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 98
Quan elles retornin – si les flors ho fan – jo sempre tinc un dubte: que si les flors podran tornar a néixer quan hagi mort l’Art – Quan ells comencen el cant, si ho poden fer els pit-roigs, jo sempre he tingut la por, que mai he dit, de què llur darrer intent hagués estat l’any passat. Quan vingui el maig, si el maig retorna, que ningú s’angoixi, no fos que un rostre tan bell poguéssim no tornar a veure. Si jo sóc allà – mai se sap amb quina companyia hom pot estar demà, però si sóc allà, retiro tot el que he dit –
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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, appears in Further poems of Emily Dickinson
This text was added to the website: 2016-03-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 107