by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
How happy is the little stone
Language: English
Our translations: FRE GER ITA
How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And doesn't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity.
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 Allyson Brown Applebaum (b. 1955), no title, published 1975 [ SA chorus and piano ], from Songs from Emily [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The little stone", 194-?, published 1952 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quiet Airs, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956), "How happy is the little stone", first performed 2000 [ soprano and piano ], from Too Few the Mornings Be. Eleven Songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 9, Carl Fischer Music [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andrew Hudson , "How happy is the little stone", from Four Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by John C. Heiss (b. 1938), "From "If I Shouldn't be Alive" and "How Happy is the Little Stone"", published 1978 [ mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano ], from Songs of Nature
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (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: 10
Word count: 46
Wie glücklich doch der kleine Stein
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Wie glücklich doch der kleine Stein,
der auf dem Weg ist, ganz allein,
der Karrieren ignoriert,
in Nöten furchtlos reagiert;
ein Universum en passant
zog ihm ’nen braunen Mantel an.
Frei wie die Sonn, für sich allein
kann leuchten er, oder zu zwein.
Hält sich an obersten Entscheid
in ungezwungner Einfachheit.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2018-07-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 51