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She sights a Bird - she chuckles - She flattens - then she crawls - She runs without the look of feet - Her eyes increase to Balls - Her Jaws stir - twitching - hungry - Her Teeth can hardly stand - She leaps, but Robin leaped the first - Ah, Pussy, of the Sand, The Hopes so juicy ripening - You almost bathed your Tongue - When Bliss disclosed a hundred [Toes]1 - And fled with every one.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R.W. Franklin, Volume 1, Cambridge, MA and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998, Poem 351.
1 In one of the earlier published versions this word was “wings”
Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, written c1862, first published 1945 [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 Julian Philips (b. 1969), "The cat", 1997/2002, published 2007 [high voice and piano], from An Amherst Bestiary, no. 9, Peters Edition [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le chat", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) (Maria M. Schnepp) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 80
Il voit un Oiseau, -- il glousse -- Il s'aplatit -- puis il rampe -- Il court sans que l'on voie ses pieds -- Ses yeux deviennent des Balles -- Ses Mâchoires -- remuent -- affamées -- Ses Dents peuvent à peine attendre -- Il Saute -- mais le Merle a sauté le premier -- Ah, Minou, du Sable, Les Espoirs mûrissants, si juteux -- Tu as presque baigné ta Langue -- Quand la Félicité a laissé voir une centaine d'Orteils -- Et s'est envolée avec chacun.
Authorship
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (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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- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, written c1862, first published 1945
This text was added to the website: 2017-09-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 72