Two butterflies went out at noon | Two butterflies went out at noon

Two butterflies went out at noon

Language: English

Our translations: GER

Two butterflies went out at noon
And waltzed above a stream,
Then stepped straight through the firmament
And rested on a beam;

And then together bore away
Upon a shining sea, -
Though never yet, in any port,
Their coming mentioned be.

If spoken by the distant bird,
If met in ether sea
By frigate or by merchantman,
Report was not to me.

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Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, 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 Robert F. Baksa (b. 1938), "Two butterflies went out at noon", published 1978 [ mezzo-soprano, piano ], from Emily Dickinson Songs, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ray Green (b. 1908), "Butterflies", published 1954 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Three Choral Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Two butterflies" [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Timothy Hoekman , "Two butterflies went out at noon", 2002, published 2006 [ voice and piano ], from To Make a Prairie, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Brodbin Kennedy , "Two butterflies went out at noon", published 1966 [ SS chorus a cappella ], from Sails, Robins, and Butterflies [sung text not yet checked]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65