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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Foreword
 (Sung text for setting by J. Philips)
 See original
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
Bring me the sunset in a cup --
Reckon the morning's flagons up
And say how many Dew --
Tell me how far the morning leaps --
Tell me what time the weaver sleeps
Who spun the breadth of blue!

Write me how many notes there be
In the new Robin's extasy ecstasy
Among astonished boughs --
How many trips the Tortoise makes --
How many cups the Bee partakes,
The Debauchee of Dews!

Also, Who laid the Rainbow's piers,
Also, Who leads the docile spheres
By withes of supple blue?
Whose fingers string the stalactite --
Who counts the wampum of the night
To see that none is due?

Who built this little Alban House
And shut the windows down so close
My spirit cannot see?
Who'll let me out some gala day
With implements to fly away,
Passing Pomposity?

Composition:

    Set to music by Julian Philips (b. 1969), "Foreword", 1997/2002, published 2007 [ high voice and piano ], from An Amherst Bestiary, no. 2, Peters Edition

Text Authorship:

  • by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title

See other settings of this text.

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 136

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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