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How happy is the little stone That rambles in the road alone, And doesn't care about careers, And exigencies never fears; Whose coat of elemental brown A passing universe put on; And independent as the sun, Associates or glows alone, Fulfilling absolute decree In casual simplicity.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891 [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 Allyson Brown Applebaum (b. 1955), "How happy is the little stone", published 1975 [ SA chorus and piano ], from Songs from Emily [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The little stone", 194-?, published 1952 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quiet Airs, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956), "How happy is the little stone", first performed 2000 [ soprano and piano ], from Too Few the Mornings Be. Eleven Songs for Soprano and Piano, no. 9, Carl Fischer Music [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andrew Hudson , "How happy is the little stone", from Four Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by John C. Heiss (b. 1938), "From "If I Shouldn't be Alive" and "How Happy is the Little Stone"", published 1978 [ mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano ], from Songs of Nature
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2009, (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: 10
Word count: 46
Come è felice il ciottolo che vaga solitario per la strada, senza pensiero di carriere o tema di bisogni; Vestito di scuro elemento ha messo su un universo effimero; e, come il sole indipendente, ad altri si accompagna o solitario splende, obbedendo a una legge assoluta nella semplicità più fortuita.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2009 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-07
Line count: 10
Word count: 50