by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
A child said, What is the grass? See original
Language: English
Our translations: GER
A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? .... I do not know
what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?
...
Composition:
- Set to music by Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "A child said, What is the grass?", 1986, first performed 1987, stanzas 1-3 [ vocal duet with piano ], from Inscriptions, no. 3
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Song of Myself, no. 6
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (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: 2007-11-26
Line count: 40
Word count: 384