These are the days when birds come back | These are the days when Birds come back

These are the days when Birds come back

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER

These are the days when Birds come back --
A very few -- a Bird or two --
To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies resume
The old -- old sophistries of June --
A blue and gold mistake.

Oh fraud that cannot cheat the Bee --
Almost thy plausibility
Induces my belief.

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear --
And softly thro' the altered air
Hurries a timid leaf.

Oh Sacrament of summer days,
Oh Last Communion in the Haze --
Permit a child to join.

Thy sacred emblems to partake --
They consecrated bread to take
And thine immortal wine!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, first published 1890 [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 Rudolf Escher (1912 - 1980), "These are the days when birds come back", 1955, published 1956 [ mixed chorus of 7-10 voices ], from Songs of Love and Eternity, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Ferris , "Indian summer", published 1979 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917 - 1995), "Indian summer", published 1964 [ SSA chorus and piano ], from Emily Dickinson Set [sung text not yet checked]
by George Frederick McKay (1899 - 1970), "Indian summer", published 1967 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "These are the days", published 1977 [ high voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by George Perle (1915 - 2009), "These are the days when birds come back" [ voice and piano ], from Thirteen Dickinson Songs, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Daniel Rogers Pinkham (1923 - 2006), "These are the days when birds come back", published 1974 [ medium voice and electronic tape ], from Safe in their Alabaster Chambers [sung text not yet checked]
by Ruth Schonthal (1924 - 2006), "These are the days", 1977, first performed 1978 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Songs of Love and Sorrow, no. 1, Furore Verlag [sung text not yet checked]

Set in a modified version by Richard Stöhr.

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

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 98