Bear in mind That death is a drum Beating forever Till the last worms come To answer its call, Till the last stars fall, Until the last atom Is no atom at all, Until time is lost And there is no air And space itself Is nothing nowhere. Death is a drum, A signal drum, Calling all life To come, come, Come.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Confirmed with Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, herausgegeben und übertragen von Eva Hesse und Paridam von dem Knesebeck, München: Nymphenburger Verlag, 1953, page 32.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Drum", first published <<1953 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "Drum" [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Contrasts [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Fetler (b. 1920), "Drum", published 1957 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "Drum", published 1954 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Günter Raphael (1903 - 1960), "Drum", published 1965 [ baritone, piano, oboe, and percussion ], from My Dark Hands = Mein dunklen Hände, no. 5, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Drum", published 1958 [ baritone and piano ], from Meine dunklen Hände, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Paridam von dem Knesebeck (c1911 - 2000) , "Trommel", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, first published 1953, copyright © and by Eva Hesse (1925 - 2020) , "Trommel", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, first published 1953, copyright © ; composed by Günter Raphael, Hermann Reutter.
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-21
Line count: 17
Word count: 62