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