Ich fühlt' den Spalt in meinem Kopf

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Translation © by Walter A. Aue

I felt a clearing in my mind

Language: English

Our translations: GER

I felt a clearing in my mind
  As if my brain had split;
I tried to match it, seam by seam,
  But could not make them fit.

The thought behind I strove to join
  Unto the thought before,
But sequence ravelled out of reach
  Like balls upon a floor.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Poems by Emily Dickinson. Third Series, ed by Mabel Loomis Todd, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896.

Note: in later editions, in stanza 1 line 1, the word "clearing" is replaced by "cleavage" or "cleaving".

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), "The Lost Thought", appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, first published 1896 [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 Anna Clyne (b. 1980), "The Lost Thought", 2013 [ 3 female voices and instrumental ensemble ], from As Sudden Shut, no. 2, Boosey & Hawkes
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
by Michael M. Horvit (b. 1932), "I felt a cleavage in my mind", published 1970 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs of Elegy [sung text not yet checked]
by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "I felt a cleavage in my mind", published 1956 [ voice, clarinet or chamber orchestra ], from The Mob Within the Heart [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "I felt a cleavage", published 1961 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs to Poems of Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (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: 49

Ich fühlt' den Spalt in meinem Kopf

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Ich fühlt' den Spalt in meinem Kopf,
als wär mein Hirn zerteilt;
Zusammenfügen wollt ich es,
doch blieb es ungeheilt.

Ich wollt' verbinden die Idee
bevor mit der danach,
Doch auseinander liefen sie
wie Bälle auf dem Dach.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 by Walter A. Aue, (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.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), "The Lost Thought", appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, first published 1896
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 8
Word count: 38