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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

When they come back ‑‑ if Blossoms do
Language: English 
Our translations:  CAT FRE GER ITA
When they come back -- if Blossoms do --
I always feel a doubt
If Blossoms can be born again
When once the Art is out --

When they begin, if Robins may,
I always had a fear
I did not tell, it was their last Experiment
Last Year,

When it is May, if May return,
Had nobody a pang
Lest in a Face so beautiful
He might not look again?

If I am there -- One does not know
What Party -- One may be
Tomorrow, but if I am there
I take back all I say --

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   A. Copland •   J. Coulthard 

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

  • by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Further poems of Emily Dickinson [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 Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "When they come back", 1949-50, published 1951 [ voice, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Jean Coulthard (1908 - 2000), "When they come back -- if Blossoms do" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Quan elles retornin", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Quand elles reviennent, si les fleurs reviennent", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 98

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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