Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
We grow accustomed to the Dark - When Light is put away - As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp To witness her Good bye - A Moment - We uncertain step For newness of the night - Then - fit our Vision to the Dark - And meet the Road - erect - And so of larger - Darknesses - Those Evenings of the Brain - When not a Moon disclose a sign - Or Star - come out - within - The Bravest - grope a little - And sometimes hit a Tree Directly in the Forehead - But as they learn to see - Either the Darkness alters - Or something in the sight Adjusts itself to Midnight - And Life steps almost straight.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title [author's text not yet checked 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 David Horowicz (b. 1960), "We grow accustomed to the Dark", 1988 [soprano, viola, mandolin, guitar], from Five songs on poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 4. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2018-06-29
Line count: 20
Word count: 127
Wir stellen uns aufs Dunkel ein, wenn’s uns an Licht gebricht, wie wenn, gehn wir vom Nachbarn heim, weicht seiner Lampe Licht. Nur kurz - ist zaghaft unser Schritt, an Nacht noch nicht gewohnt, dann wirkt das Aug im Dunkel mit: wir schreiten sicher fort. So auch, wenn es noch finstrer wird - wenn’s Abend wird im Hirn, wenn uns kein Mond und auch kein Stern im Kopf ein Zeichen gibt. Die Kühnsten tasten sich den Weg, stoßen gelegentlich die Stirn am Baume sich, doch wenn sie besser seh’n, wandelt das Dunkel sich oder etwas in ihrem Seh’n stellt sich auf tiefstes Dunkel ein: Fast glatt wird’s dann im Leben gehn.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2018 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:
Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title
This text was added to the website: 2018-06-29
Line count: 20
Word count: 111