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On this wondrous sea, Sailing silently, [Ho! pilot, ho! Knowest thou the shore]1 Where no breakers roar, Where the storm is o'er? In the silent west Many [the]2 sails at rest, Their anchors fast; Thither I pilot thee, - Land, ho! Eternity! Ashore at last!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 lines inverted by Bacon ?
2 omitted by Bacon ?
Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896 [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "In the silent west" [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "On this wondrous sea", published 1944 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Emily Dickinson: Nature Time and Space - Volume 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Farwell (1872 - 1952), "On this wondrous sea", op. 107 no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Wehage , "On this wondrous sea" [ high voice and piano ], from Ten Dickinson Songs, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vally Weigl, née Pick (c1894 - 1982), "From time and eternity" [ SSA chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by William Hawley, Craig Urquhart.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 45
Auf dem Lebensmeer segeln - still einher, auf, Käpt’n, auf! Kennst die Küste du, wo Meer und Sturmes Wut sind gelangt zur Ruh? Dort, im stillen West - Segel sind gerefft - ankern, sturmgefeit. Dorthin leit' ich dich - Ewigkeit in Sicht! - Land der Seligkeit!
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2017 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
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2017-05-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 46