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I held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers, - The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
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Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems: Second Series, first published 1891 [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 Gloria Coates (b. 1938), "I Held a Jewel (In my Fingers)", 1966/1972, first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from 15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Monica Houghton , "I held a jewel in my fingers …", 2011, first performed 2013 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson ; Three Gems from Emily Dickinson, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Odaline de la Martinez (b. 1949), "I Held a Jewel in my Fingers", 1978 [ mixed chorus and percussion ], from Two American Madrigals, no. 2, Composers Edition
Publisher: Composers Edition [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Henry Mollincone (b. 1946), "I held a jewel", published 1966 [ SSAA chorus and piano or harp ], from Five Poems of Love [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "A Jewel, A Joy!", 2006 [ mezzo-soprano, satb chorus and piano ], from A Heart in Hiding, no. 6
Score: Gwyneth Walker [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Remembrance", 2008/2009, copyright © 2008 [ mezzo-soprano, violin, viola, violoncello and piano ], from The Poet's Heart, no. 6, E.C.Schirmer
Publisher: ECS Publishing [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (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: 8
Word count: 44
In Händen ein Juwel ich hatt’ und schlief dann ein. Warm war der Tag, die Winde matt; ich meint’, ’s bleibt mein. Erwacht, schalt ich die brave Hand: weg war der Stein - Erinnerung an Amethyst verbleibt allein.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2016 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.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems: Second Series, first published 1891
This text was added to the website: 2016-11-28
Line count: 8
Word count: 37