But only three in all God's universe

But only three in all God's universe
Have heard this word thou hast said, -- Himself, beside
Thee speaking, and me listening! and replied
One of us . . . that was God, . . . and laid the curse
So darkly on my eyelids, as to amerce
My sight from seeing thee, -- that if I had died,
The deathweights, placed there, would have signified
Less absolute exclusion. 'Nay' is worse
From God than from all others, O my friend!
Men could not part us with their worldly jars,
Nor the seas change us, nor the tempests bend;
Our hands would touch for all the mountain-bars:
And, heaven being rolled between us at the end,
We should but vow the faster for the stars.

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) , from Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 2, published 1850

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Gena Branscombe (1881-1977) , "But only three in all God's universe", published 1907 [medium voice and piano], from Love in a Life, no. 2.
by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864-1942) , "But only three in all God's universe", published 1907 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 2.

by Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885-1974) , "Nur Drei jedoch in Gottes ganzem All", published 1935 [soprano and string quartet], from Sonette der Elisabeth Barret-Browning [sic], no. ?

Date added to the website: 0000-00-00.

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Nur Drei jedoch in Gottes ganzem All

Nur Drei jedoch in Gottes ganzem All
vernahmen es: Er selbst und du, der sprach,
und ich, die hörte. Und in diesem Fall
war Ers, der Antwort gab ... um Ungemach
auf meinen Augenlidern aufzuschichten
so viel, daß nicht mit größeren Gewichten
der Tod sie hindern könnte, sich zu dir
noch einmal aufzuschlagen. Dieses hier,
dies Nein vor Gott, mein Freund, ist schwerer als
andere Nein. Wir dürften allenfalls
stehn, gegen Menschen, Meer und Sturm uns sträubend,
und durch Gebirg hin uns halten lernen;
und stürzten Himmel hier herein betäubend:
wir hielten uns noch fester zwischen Sternen.

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) , no title, 1908, from Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 2

a text in English by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) , from Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 2, published 1850

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885-1974) , "Nur Drei jedoch in Gottes ganzem All", published 1935 [soprano and string quartet], from Sonette der Elisabeth Barret-Browning [sic], no. ?

Date added to the website: 2007-12-13.