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by Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900)

A man said to the universe
Language: English 
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900), no title, appears in War Is Kind and Other Lines, no. 21, first published 1899 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Sir I Exist", 2008 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Joshua Alan Lindsay (b. 1988), "Prelude", 2008-9, first performed 2009 [ tenor or high voice and piano ], from Of snow, ice, burning sand, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by David Sisco , "A man said to the universe", 1997 [ baritone and piano ], from Five Stephen Crane Poems, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Paul Siskind , "A man said to the universe", 1987 [ soprano and piano ], from Some Epigrams, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-07
Line count: 5
Word count: 24

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