Le chat | Il voit un Oiseau, -- il glousse

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

She sights a Bird ‑ she chuckles

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER GER

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"

Text 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 Derek Healey (b. 1936), "She sights a Bird", op. 146 no. 2 (2015) [ soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Bianco's Delight: a bakers dozen cat songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
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 page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-04-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

Le chat

Language: French (Français) after the English

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.

Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, written c1862, first published 1945
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-09-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 72