Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
The brain is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease, and you beside. The brain is deeper than the sea, For, hold them, blue to blue, The one the other will absorb, As sponges, buckets do. The brain is just the weight of God, For, lift them, pound for pound, And they will differ, if they do, As syllable from sound.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896 [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 Ronald A. Beckett , "The brain is wider than the sky", 2016 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Daniel Rogers Pinkham (1923 - 2006), "The brain is wider than the sky", published 1963 [ SSAA chorus and piano or chamber orchestra ], from An Emily Dickinson Mosaic [sung text not yet checked]
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
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: 72
Das Hirn - ist weiter als das Zelt des Himmel - weil - schau her! - Eines das Andere enthält - samt Dir - und noch viel mehr - Das Hirn ist tiefer als das Meer - weil - Grau an Blau - trinkt nun das Eine ganz das And're leer - wie's Schwämme - Kübel tun - Das Hirn wiegt gradsoviel wie Gott - weil - heb sie! - tagelang - der Unterschied - wenn überhaupt - ist Silbe nur von Sang -
About the headline (FAQ)
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
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 84