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 licenses@email.lieder.example.net
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.
I felt a funeral in my brain, And mourners to and fro, Kept treading, treading, till it seemed That sense was breaking through. And when they all were seated A service like a drum Kept beating, beating, till I thought My mind was going numb. And then I heard them lift a box, And creak across my soul With those same boots of [lead]1. Then space began to toll As all the heavens were a bell, And Being but an ear, And I and silence some strange race, Wrecked, solitary, here. And then a plank in reason, broke, And I dropped down and down -- And hit a world at every plunge, And finished knowing -- then --
A. Copland sets stanzas 1-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Copland: "lead, again"
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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Treading", 196-? [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "I felt a funeral in my brain", 1949-50, stanzas 1-4 [ mezzo-soprano, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Michael M. Horvit (b. 1932), "I felt a funeral in my brain", published 1970 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs of Elegy [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vaig sentir un funeral al meu cap", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "J'ai senti un enterrement dans ma tête", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (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: 20
Word count: 115
Sentivo un funerale, nella mente, e i dolenti si aggiravano intorno, e ancora si aggiravano, fino a che ogni senso sembrò venisse meno. Poi quando tutti si furono seduti, una cerimonia che, simile a un tamburo, batteva e ribatteva - al punto che pensai che mi si stesse annebbiando la mente. Poi li sentii sollevare una bara, e penetrarmi, scricchiolando, l'anima ancora, e ancora, con stivali di piombo, poi lo spazio iniziò a rintoccare come se si fossero fatti campana tutti i cieli e la creazione nient'altro che un orecchio, Ed io, e il silenzio, una razza straniera qui naufragata in solitario esilio. Poi si spezzò una trave, nella mia coscienza, e sentii sprofondarmi giù, e poi più giù ancora, ad ogni tuffo urtando contro un mondo, e nella conoscenza tutto ebbe fine - allora.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2011 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.
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
This text was added to the website: 2011-09-09
Line count: 20
Word count: 135