by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Nature, the gentlest mother
Language: English
Our translations: CAT FRE GER ITA
Nature, the gentlest mother
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest, -
Her admonition mild
In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.
How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon, -
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down
Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.
When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky,
With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
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), "The gentlest mother", published 1971 [ soprano and alto soli, SSA chorus, and piano ], from Nature [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Nature, the gentlest mother", published 1944 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Emily Dickinson: Nature Time and Space - Volume 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "Nature, the gentlest mother", 1949-50 [ mezzo-soprano, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Natura, la mare més gentil ", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Nature, mère la plus gentille", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 103
Natur, gütigste Mutter
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Natur, gütigste Mutter,
duldsam mit jedem Kind,
für Schwächste und Missratenste
sie milde Worte find't:
der Wand'rer hört's im Wald
im hügeligen Feld
wie Eichhorns, Vogels Übermut
ihr Wort in Schranken hält.
Wie schön ist doch ihr Plaudern,
ein Sommernachmittag, -
ihr Hausstand, ihre Nähe;
und neiget sich der Tag,
ruft zwischen Wegen sie
zum schüchternen Gebet
das kleinste Heimchen auf,
die Blume ohne Wert.
Und schläft dann jedes Kind,
dann wendet sie sich ab,
bis ihre Lampen leuchten all;
vom Himmelszelt herab
mit übergroßer Liebe
und Sorge noch viel mehr,
den goldnen Finger vor dem Mund
sie allseits Ruh begehrt.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2013-08-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 100