by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Tie the strings to my life, my Lord
Language: English
Tie the strings to my life, my Lord,
Then I am ready to go!
Just a look at the horses -
Rapid! That will do!
Put me in on the firmest side,
So I shall never fall;
For we must ride to the Judgment,
And it 's partly down hill.
But never I mind the bridges,
And never I mind the sea;
Held fast in everlasting race
By my own choice and thee.
Good-by to the life I used to live,
And the world I used to know;
And kiss the hills for me, just once;
Now I am ready to go!
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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 Arthur Farwell (1872 - 1952), "Tie the strings to my life", op. 107 no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "Tie the strings to my life, my Lord", 2004 [ voice and piano ], from Summer. Life. Song. -- 2. Life Songs, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Tie the strings to my life, my Lord ", 1999, first performed 2001 [ soprano and piano ], from Paradise - 7 songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "Tie the strings to my life, my Lord" [ soprano, chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra ], from Amherst Requiem, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daniel Rogers Pinkham (1923 - 2006), "Tie the strings to my life", from Called Home, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (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: 101
Spann meinen Lebenswagen an
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Spann meinen Lebenswagen an,
ich steh bereit, mein Gott!
Ein Blick noch auf die Pferde -
schleunig! Das genügt!
Setz auf die sichre Seite mich,
auf dass ich niemals fall’;
denn unsre Fahrt geht zum Gericht,
zuweilen geht’s bergab.
Was gehen mich die Brücken an,
das Meer, was sorgt es mich;
in ewges Rennen eingespannt
durch eigne Wahl und dich.
Lebwohl, all dem, was ich gewohnt,
lebwohl, Welt alter Zeit;
küsst mir die Hügel einmal noch;
zu gehn bin ich bereit!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 80