by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The murmur of a bee
Language: English
Our translations: FRE GER
The murmur of a bee
A witchcraft yieldeth me.
If any ask me why,
'T were easier to die
Than tell.
The red upon the hill
Taketh away my will;
If anybody sneer,
Take care, for God is here,
That's all.
The breaking of the day
Addeth to my degree;
If any ask me how,
Artist, who drew me so,
Must tell!
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Cees van As (1946 - 1986), "Mysteries", op. 2 no. 2, published 1982 [ female voice and piano ], from Mysteries, no. 2, Amsterdam: Donemus Publishing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Weiss (1891 - 1971), "Mysteries", 1938, published c1930 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Seven Songs for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, 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 © 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: 15
Word count: 62
Einer Biene Gesumm
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Einer Biene Gesumm
verleiht mir Zauberkunst.
Fragt jemand mich, warum,
dann käm ich eher um -
als dass ich’s sag!
Am Berg das Abendrot -
es macht mich willenlos;
wer spöttisch dies belacht -
auch hier ist Gott - gib acht,
das war's.
Der neue Tag bricht an
erhöht mir Stand und Rang;
fragt wer, wie’s funktioniert -
der mich so hat kreiert -
sag er’s!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Mysteries" = "Geheimnisse"
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2017-09-22
Line count: 15
Word count: 60