by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

I felt a funeral in my brain
 (Sung text for setting by A. Copland)
 See original
Language: English 
Our translations:  CAT FRE GER GER ITA
I felt a funeral in my brain,
  And mourners, to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
  That sense was breaking through.

And when they all were seated,
  A service like a drum
Kept beating, beating, till I thought
  My mind was going numb.

And then I heard them lift a box,
  And creak across my soul
With those same boots of lead, again.
  Then space began to toll

As all the heavens were a bell,
  And Being but an ear,
And I and silence some strange race,
  Wrecked, solitary, here.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4 of the original text.

Note: a later edition removes the word "again" from stanza 3, line 3 and adds the following stanza to the end: 

And then a plank in reason, broke,
And I dropped down and down —
And hit a world at every plunge,
And finished knowing — then —

Composition:

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vaig sentir un funeral al meu cap", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (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: 16
Word count: 92

Begräbnis fühlt’ ich im Gehirn
 (Sung text translation for setting by A. Copland)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Begräbnis fühlt’ ich im Gehirn:
Trauernde her und hin
bewegten und bewegten sich,
bis sich ergab ein Sinn.

Und als sie Platz genommen,
tönt dumpfer Trommelklang:
es schlug und schlug bis es mir schien,
es raubt mir den Verstand.

Dann hört’ ich, wie ein Sarg sich hob,
wie Stiefelknarren stach
durchs Herze mir, und dann im All
ein voll Geläut anbrach.

Die Himmel nur ein Glockenton,
ein Hören nur mein Sein,
mein Ich, die Ruh ein fremd Geschlecht,
gestrandet und allein.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4 of the original text.

Note: Translation of the stanza added to the end in a later edition: 

Dann brach der Dachstuhl der Vernunft
und stürzt’ und stürzt’ hinab,
schlug Sturz um Sturz auf eine Welt
bis all Erkennen schwand.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (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.

    Bertram Kottmann.  Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de

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This text was added to the website: 2015-06-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 81