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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Translation © by Walter A. Aue

The brain is wider than the sky
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
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)

Text 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
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
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)

Text 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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 64

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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