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)
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 against a primary source]
- by Paul Siskind , "A man said to the universe", 1987 [soprano and piano], from Some Epigrams, no. 4 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-07
Line count: 5
Word count: 24