Four Dickinson Songs

Song Cycle by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011)

Translated to:

German (Deutsch) — Vier Dickinsonlieder (Bertram Kottmann)

1. A letter
(Sung text)

Language: English

You ask of my companions.
Hills, sir, and the sundown, 
and a dog large as myself, 
that my father bought me. 
They are better than beings 
because they know, but do not tell; 
and the noise in the pool 
at noon excels my piano. 
I have a brother and a sister; 
my mother does not care for thought, 
and father, too busy with his briefs 
to notice what we do. 
He buys me many books, 
but begs me not to read them, 
because he fears they joggle the mind. 
They are religious, except me, 
and address an eclipse ev'ry morning, 
whom they call their "Father." 
But I fear my story fatigues you.

I would like to learn.
Could you tell me how to grow, 
or is it unconveyed, 
like melody or witchcraft?

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, written 1862

Go to the general single-text view

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Note: From a letter from Emily Dickinson to Thomas Wentworth Higgins, dated April 25, 1862. The line-breaks are arbitrary; this is a prose text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

2. How the Waters closed
(Sung text)

Language: English

How the Waters closed above Him
We shall never know --
How He stretched His Anguish to us
That -- is covered too --

Spreads the Pond Her Base of Lilies
Bold above the Boy
Whose unclaimed Hat and Jacket
Sum the History --

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title

Go to the general single-text view

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

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Comment les Eaux se sont fermées sur Lui", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. Wild nights
(Sung text)

Language: English

Wild nights! -- Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile -- the Winds --
To a heart in port, --
Done with the Compass, --
Done with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden --
Ah! the Sea!
Might I but moor -- Tonight --
In thee!

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891

See other settings of this text.

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. There came a wind like a bugle
(Sung text)

Language: English

There came a Wind like a Bugle —
It quivered through the Grass
And a Green Chill upon the Heat
So ominous did pass
We barred the Windows and the Doors
As from an Emerald Ghost —
The Doom's electric Moccasin
That very instant passed —
On a strange Mob of panting Trees
And Fences fled away
And Rivers where the Houses ran
Those looked that lived — that Day —
The Bell within the steeple wild
The flying tidings told —
How much can come
And much can go,
And yet abide the World!

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title

See other settings of this text.

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Total word count: 310

Four Dickinson Songs

Song Cycle by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011)

Translated to:

1. A letter (Sung text)

2. How the Waters closed (Sung text)

3. Wild nights (Sung text)

4. There came a wind like a bugle (Sung text)

1. A letter
(Sung text)

2. How the Waters closed
(Sung text)

3. Wild nights
(Sung text)

4. There came a wind like a bugle
(Sung text)