by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Why ‑‑ do they shut me out of Heaven?
Language: English
Our translations: CAT FRE GER ITA
Why -- do they shut me out of Heaven?
Did I sing -- too loud?
But -- I can sing a little minor,
Timid as a bird.
Wouldn't the angels try me --
just -- once -- more --
Just -- see -- if I troubled them --
But don't -- shut the door!
Oh if I -- were the Gentlemen
in the White [Robe]1
and they -- were the little Hand -- that knocked --
Could -- I -- forbid?
Why do they shut me out of Heaven?
Did I sing too loud?
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Copland About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Copland: "Robes"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "Why do they shut me out of Heaven?", 1949-50, published 1951 [ voice, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Why -- do they shut me out of Heaven", 1999, first performed 2001 [ soprano and piano ], from Paradise - 7 songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irwin Heilner (b. 1908), "Poem", 1930, rev. 1972 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Per què m’han tancat les portes del cel?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Pourquoi m'ont-ils fermé la porte du ciel", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2010, (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: 14
Word count: 77
Per què m’han tancat les portes del cel?
Language: Catalan (Català) after the English
Per què m’han tancat les portes del cel?
És que he cantat massa fort?
Però jo puc cantar més fluixet,
tímidament com un ocell.
No voldrien pas els àngels posar-me a prova,
tan sols una vegada més,
per veure si és que els vaig molestar –
però no tanqueu la porta!
Oh, si jo fos el senyor
amb la túnica blanca
i ells la petita mà que pica a la porta,
podria jo negar-los-hi accés?
Per què m’han tancat les portes del cel?
És que he cantat massa fort?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2016-03-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 89