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I died for beauty, but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room. He questioned softly why I failed? "For beauty," I replied. "And I for truth, - the two are one; We brethren are," he said. And so, as kinsmen met a night, We talked between the rooms, Until the moss had reached our lips, And covered up our names.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890 [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), "I died for beauty ", 2010 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Of Time and Eternity, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "I died for beauty", alternate title: "Air", c1990 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert F. Baksa (b. 1938), "I died for beauty", published 1977, from Emily Dickinson Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fania Chapiro , "I died for beauty", 1988, from Three songs of death, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Leland Clarke (1907 - 1992), "I died for beauty", 1963 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norman Dinerstein (b. 1937), "I died for beauty", published 1961 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Four Settings for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 4, New York, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harris Lindenfeld (b. 1945), "I died for beauty, but was scarce" [ soprano, e flat clarinet, and piano ], from 3 Dickinson Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "I died for beauty", 2000 [ voice and piano ], from Intimations of Mortality, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , no title, copyright © 2018, (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: 12
Word count: 71
Ich starb für Schönheit -- doch ich war in's Grab gekommen kaum, als einer, der für Wahrheit starb kam in den nächsten Raum -- "Wofür gescheitert'?", fragt' Er sacht. "Für Schönheit", sage Ich -- "Und ich -- für Wahrheit -- Gleiches macht Geschwister uns" -- Er spricht. Und als Verwandte -- nachtbekannt -- der Raum manch' Zwiesprach' weckt -- bis Moos die Lippen uns erreicht -- die Namen -- uns bedeckt --
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Authorship
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
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- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 60