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In falling timbers buried There breathed a man. Outside the spades were plying, The lungs within. Could he know they sought him, Could they know he breathed, Horrid sand partition, Neither could be heard. Never slacked the diggers, But when spades had done, Oh reward of anguish, It was dying then. Many things are fruitless, 'Tis a baffling earth, But there is no gratitude Like the Grace of death.
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Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Bolts of Melody [author's text checked 1 time 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 Gloria Coates (b. 1938), "In falling timbers buried", from 15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 9. [ sung text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2016-11-28 16:12:02
Line count: 16
Word count: 69
Verschüttet unter Trümmern keuchte ein Mensch. Draußen plagten Spaten sich, die Lungen, drin. Wusst’ er von der Suche? Und sie, dass er noch lebt? Schutt und Trümmerberge - keiner den andern hört. Nimmer ruhn die Spaten, doch als sie es geschafft - ach, welch Lohn der Mühsal - hat der Tod gesiegt. Vieles ist vergebens - schwer zu verstehn die Welt - doch letztlich danken wir dem barmherz’gen Tod.
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Authorship
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2016 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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- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Bolts of Melody
Text added to the website: 2016-11-28 00:00:00
Last modified: 2016-11-28 16:12:12
Line count: 16
Word count: 69