by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
The murmur of a bee
Language: English
The murmur of a bee A witchcraft yieldeth me. If any ask me why, 'T were easier to die Than tell. The red upon the hill Taketh away my will; If anybody sneer, Take care, for God is here, That's all. The breaking of the day Addeth to my degree; If any ask me how, Artist, who drew me so, Must tell!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, 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 Cees van As (1946 - 1986), "Mysteries", op. 2 no. 2, published 1982 [ female voice and piano ], from Mysteries, no. 2, Amsterdam: Donemus Publishing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Weiss (1891 - 1971), "Mysteries", 1938, published c1930 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Seven Songs for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (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: 15
Word count: 62