Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart! Unlike our uses and our destinies. Our ministering two angels look surprise On one another, as they strike athwart Their wings in passing. Thou, bethink thee, art A guest for queens to social pageantries, With gages from a hundred brighter eyes Than tears [even]1 can make mine, to ply thy part Of chief musician. What hast thou to do With looking from the lattice-lights at me, A poor, tired, wandering singer, … singing through The dark, and leaning up a cypress tree? The chrism is on thine head, — on mine, the dew, — And Death must dig the level where these agree.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with A Book of Women’s Verse, ed. by J. C. Squire. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921; Bartleby.com, 2011. www.bartleby.com/291/104.html
1 Morawetz: "ever"Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 3, first published 1847 [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 Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart", published 1907 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Unlike", 2015 [ soprano and piano ], from How do I love thee? -- 5 songs for soprano and piano on sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Oskar Morawetz (b. 1917), "Sonnet III: Unlike Are We", 1955 [ high voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hubert du Plessis (b. 1922), "Unlike are we", op. 15 (Three Sonnets from the Portuguese) no. ? (1954), rev. 1973, first performed 1956 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lajos Vass (b. 1927), "Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart", c1966 [ soprano, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 3, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 111
Ungleiche sind wir, hohes Herz. Man kann uns nicht zu Gleichem brauchen oder führen. Wenn unsre Engel sich im Raum berühren, so schauen sie einander staunend an. Du bist, vergiß es nicht, geborner Gast von Königinnen, welche dich verwöhnen; meine vom Weinen schönen Augen, hast du sie verglichen mit den wunderschönen, die nach dir rufen? Glänzender, was trittst du fort vom Feste; und dein Auge schaut nach einem Spielmann aus, der unten neben Zypressen müd, im Dunkel singend, sitzt? Dein Haupt ist eingesalbt, meins ist betaut, - und nur der Tod gräbt solches um und eben.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 3, first published 1908 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 3, first published 1847
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 95