by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
I felt a clearing in my mind
Language: English
Our translations: GER
I felt a clearing in my mind As if my brain had split; I tried to match it, seam by seam, But could not make them fit. The thought behind I strove to join Unto the thought before, But sequence ravelled out of reach Like balls upon a floor.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Poems by Emily Dickinson. Third Series, ed by Mabel Loomis Todd, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896.
Note: in later editions, in stanza 1 line 1, the word "clearing" is replaced by "cleavage" or "cleaving".
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), "The Lost Thought", appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1. Life, no. 23, first published 1896 [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 Michael M. Horvit (b. 1932), "I felt a cleavage in my mind", published 1970 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs of Elegy [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "I felt a cleavage in my mind", published 1956 [ voice, clarinet or chamber orchestra ], from The Mob Within the Heart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "I felt a cleavage", published 1961 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs to Poems of Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (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: 49