by
Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)
I do not know which to prefer
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Boris Blacher (1903 - 1975), "I do not know which to prefer", 1957 [ voice and string quartet ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lukas Foss (b. 1922), "I do not know which to prefer", 1978, copyright © 1980 [ soprano, piano, flute, 2 tapes, and percussion ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5, New York, Pembroke [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), "I do not know which to prefer", 1947, published 1951, from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louise Juliette Talma (1906 - 1996), "I do not know which to prefer", 1979 [ tenor or soprano, oboe, flute or violin, and piano ], from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (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: 5
Word count: 22
Je ne sais laquelle préférer
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Je ne sais laquelle préférer
La beauté des inflexions
Ou la beauté des insinuations,
Le merle en train de siffler
Ou juste après.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 23