by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The rose did caper on her cheek
Language: English
Our translations: GER
The rose did caper on her cheek, Her bodice rose and fell, Her pretty speech, like drunken men, Did stagger pitiful. Her fingers fumbled at her work, - Her needle would not go; What ailed so smart a little maid It puzzled me to know, Till opposite I spied a cheek That bore another rose; Just opposite, another speech That like the drunkard goes; A vest that, like the bodice, danced To the immortal tune, - Till those two troubled little clocks Ticked softly into one.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891 [author's text not yet checked 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 Clarence Dickinson (1873 - 1969), "The lovers", published 1897 [ voice, piano ], from Six Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "The rose did caper on her cheek", 1975 [ soprano and piano ], from Four Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 2, Southern/Texas [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2019, (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: 16
Word count: 84