Erst die Mitternacht
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Du hast Tag und Nacht gesetzt
Über deiner Erde,
Tag, da sich das Aug ergetzt,
Nacht voll Ungebärde.
Lehr uns danken, ewig Licht,
Für die finstern Stunden,
Auch für die, da Dein Gesicht
Über uns verschwunden!
Denn soweit ein Auge wacht
In des Fleisches Banden,
Zeigt uns erst die Mitternacht,
Daß dein Tag vorhanden.
Confirmed with Rudolf Alexander Schröder, Gesammelte Werke in Fünf Bänden, Erster Band, Die Gedichte, Berlin und Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1952, page 733.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Only midnight", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2024-01-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 54
Only midnight
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Thou hast set day and night
Over Thy earth,
Day, so that our eyes may delight in it,
Night full of unbridled wildness.
Eternal light, teach us to give thanks
For the dark hours,
Also for those in which Thy face
Has vanished from above us!
For as far as human eyes are wakeful
In the bonds of the flesh,
'Tis only midnight that shows us
That Thy day is there.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 by Sharon Krebs, (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: 2024-01-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 71