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.
The rose did caper on her cheek, Her bodice rose and fell, Her pretty speech, like drunken men, Did stagger pitiful. Her fingers fumbled at her work, - Her needle would not go; What ailed so smart a little maid It puzzled me to know, Till opposite I spied a cheek That bore another rose; Just opposite, another speech That like the drunkard goes; A vest that, like the bodice, danced To the immortal tune, - Till those two troubled little clocks Ticked softly into one.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891 [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 Clarence Dickinson (1873 - 1969), "The lovers", published 1897 [voice, piano], from Six Songs [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "The rose did caper on her cheek", 1975 [soprano and piano], from Four Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 2, Southern/Texas [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- 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: 16
Word count: 86
Röte ihr in die Wangen stieg, ihr Mieder hob sich, sank, als sie, wie jemand der beschwipst, nach richt’gen Worten rang. Sie fingerte am Stoff herum, die Nadel blieb ihr stehn; was sie wohl durcheinander bringt - gern würd ich es verstehn. Bis vis-à-vis die Wang ich blickt’, auf der auch Röte stand, und jemand, der auch wie beschwipst, nicht richt’ge Worte fand. Ein Hemd, das, wie ihr Mieder, tanzt’ zur ewgen Melodie, bis beide wilde Herzchen sanft schlugen in Harmonie.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2019 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:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891
This text was added to the website: 2019-01-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 81