by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Let down the bars, O Death!
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER
Let down the bars, O Death!
The tired flocks come in
Whose bleating ceases to repeat,
Whose wandering is done.
Thine is the stillest night,
Thine the [securest]1 fold;
Too near thou art for seeking thee,
Too tender to be told.
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View original text (without footnotes)
1 Jordahl: "severest"
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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Let down the bars", c1931 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Emily Dickinson [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), "Let down the bars, O Death", op. 8 no. 2 (1936), published 1936 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Let down the bars", 1968, published 1978 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 3, Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., New York and Peer Musikverlag GMbH, Hamburg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Arnold Jordahl (b. 1926), "Let down the bars, oh Death" [ voice and flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon ], from Death and the Maiden, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "Let down the bars, O Death", published 1976 [ soprano, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano ], from Far from love, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daniel Rogers Pinkham (1923 - 2006), "Let down the bars, oh Death", from Called Home, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vally Weigl, née Pick (c1894 - 1982), "Let down the bars" [ TTBB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2019, (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: 8
Word count: 41
Heb auf die Schranken, Tod!
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Heb auf die Schranken, Tod!
Die matten Herden nahn,
ihr Blöken stirbt allmählich fort,
ihr Tagwerk ist getan.
Dein ist die stillste Nacht,
dein ist der beste Hort;
zu nah, als dass man nach dir sucht,
zu sanft für weitres Wort.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2019-01-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 41