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by Gertrude Stein (1874 - 1946)

The human mind
Language: English 
Does he or she does she or he 
Know what the human mind is.
And so all the old chapters end tears end.
But all this has nothing to do with the human mind
the use of the human mind and tears. 
It has been said said by very many
said by Jules Verne he weeps
that shows he is a man.

But a dog can have tears in his eyes
yes he can have tears in his eyes
when he has been disillusioned.
A dog when he begged always got what he asked for.

One day he begged a little dog
to give him what he wanted.
The little dog did not give him what he wanted.
The dog had tears in his eyes 
and so to cry does not make the human mind
oh no to cry does not make the human mind
it makes a piece of nature
but it does not make the human mind.

Oh dear does she does he does he does she
know what the human mind is
and if he does and if she does she does
and if she does and if he does 
if he does what is the human mind.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gertrude Stein (1874 - 1946) [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 Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "The human mind", 1977, rev. 1987. [mezzo soprano and piano] [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-20
Line count: 25
Word count: 201

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