Einst da ich bittre Tränen vergoß, da in Schmerz aufgelöst meine Hoffnung zerrann, und ich einsam stand am dürren Hügel, der in engen, dunkeln Raum die Gestalt meines Lebens barg - einsam, wie noch kein Einsamer war, von unsäglicher Angst getrieben - kraftlos, nur ein Gedanken des Elends noch. - Wie ich da nach Hülfe umherschaute, vorwärts nicht konnte und rückwärts nicht, und am fliehenden, verlöschten Leben mit unendlicher Sehnsucht hing: - da kam aus blauen Fernen - von den Höhen meiner alten Seligkeit ein Dämmerungsschauer - und mit einem Male riß das Band der Geburt - des Lichtes Fessel. Hin floh die irdische Herrlichkeit und meine Trauer mit ihr - zusammen floß die Wehmut in eine neue, unergründliche Welt - du Nachtbegeisterung, Schlummer des Himmels kamst über mich - die Gegend hob sich sacht empor; über der Gegend schwebte mein entbundner, neugeborner Geist. Zur Staubwolke wurde der Hügel - durch die Wolke sah ich die verklärten Züge der Geliebten. In ihren Augen ruhte die Ewigkeit - ich faßte ihre Hände, und die Tränen wurden ein funkelndes, unzerreißliches Band. Jahrtausende zogen abwärts in die Ferne, wie Ungewitter. An ihrem Halse weint ich dem neuen Leben entzückende Tränen. - Es war der erste, einzige Traum - und erst seitdem fühl ich ewigen, unwandelbaren Glauben an den Himmel der Nacht und sein Licht, die Geliebte.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772 - 1801), as Novalis, no title, appears in Hymnen an die Nacht, no. 3 [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 Olivier Greif (1950 - 2000), "Einst da ich bittre Tränen vergoß", 72 (1976) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (George MacDonald) , no title, appears in Rampolli: Growths from a Long Planted Root. Being Translations, New and Old, Chiefly from the German, first published 1897
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-17
Line count: 30
Word count: 223
Once when I was shedding bitter tears, when, dissolved in pain, my hope was melting away, and I stood alone by the barren hillock which in its narrow dark bosom hid the vanished form of my Life -- lonely as never yet was lonely man, driven by anguish unspeakable -- powerless, and no longer aught but a conscious misery; -- as there I looked about me for help, unable to go on or to turn back, and clung to the fleeting, extinguished life with an endless longing: -- then, out of the blue distances, from the hills of my ancient bliss, came a shiver of twilight, -- and at once snapt the bond of birth, the fetter of the Light. Away fled the glory of the world, and with it my mourning -- the sadness flowed together into a new, unfathomable world. -- Thou, soul of the Night, heavenly Slumber, didst come upon me; -- the region gently upheaved itself, and over it hovered my unbound, new-born spirit. The hillock became a cloud of dust, and through the cloud I saw the glorified face of my beloved. In her eyes eternity reposed. I laid hold of her hands, and the tears became a sparkling chain that could not be broken. Into the distance swept by, like a tempest, thousands of years. On her neck I welcomed the new life with ecstatic tears. -- Never was such another dream; -- then first and ever since I hold fast an eternal, unchangeable faith in the heaven of the Night, and its sun, the Beloved.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with George MacDonald, Rampolli: Growths from a Long Planted Root. Being Translations, New and Old, Chiefly from the German, Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1897.
Authorship:
- by George MacDonald (1824 - 1905), no title, appears in Rampolli: Growths from a Long Planted Root. Being Translations, New and Old, Chiefly from the German, first published 1897 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772 - 1801), as Novalis, no title, appears in Hymnen an die Nacht, no. 3
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2015-01-19
Line count: 30
Word count: 252