by Elinor Wylie (1885 - 1928)

Nebuchadnezzar
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
My body is weary to death of my mischievous brain; 
I am weary forever and ever of being brave; 
Therefore I crouch on my knees while the cool white rain 
Curves the clover over my head like a wave. 

The stem and the frosty seed of the grass are ripe; 
I have devoured their strength; I have drunk them deep; 
And the dandelion is gall in a thin green pipe, 
But the clover is honey and sun and the smell of sleep.

First appeared in New Republic, December 1921.

Confirmed with Selected Works of Elinor Wylie, ed. by Evelyn Helmich Hively, Kent State University Press, Kent (Ohio), 2005, page 36.


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):

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Nebukadnezar - Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2015-09-01
Line count: 8
Word count: 82