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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Thou art the sky and thou art the nest...
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
Thou art the sky and thou art the nest as well.

O thou beautiful, there in the nest is thy love 
that encloses the soul with colours and sounds and odours.

There comes the morning 
with the golden basket in her right hand 
bearing the wreath of beauty, 
silently to crown the earth.

And there comes the evening 
over the lonely meadows deserted by herds, 
through trackless paths, carrying cool draughts of peace 
in her golden pitcher from the western ocean of rest.

But there, where spreads the infinite sky for the soul 
to take her flight in, reigns the stainless white radiance. 
There is no day nor night, nor form nor colour, 
and never, never a word.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 67, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 67 [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

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

  • by Alexander Commins Post (1931 - 2002), "The sea of light", 1989 [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Thou art - Thou art the sky", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 67, first published 1914 ; composed by Louis Durey.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
    • Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 118

Du bist der Himmel mir und auch das Nest
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Du bist der Himmel mir und auch das Nest.

Du Wunderbarer, dort im Nest ist deine Liebe;
mit Farben, Klängen, Wohlgeruch umspielet sie die Seel’.

Mit goldnem Korb in ihrer Rechten 
naht die Morgenröt’ 
und trägt der Schönheit Kranz, 
zu kränzen still die Welt.

Und auch der Abend naht heran 
auf einsamer, verlassner Weide,
auf unwegsamem Pfad und bringt in seinem gold’nen Krug
die kühlen Brisen her vom stillen Meer im West.

Doch dort, wo sich das grenzenlose Firmament der Seele breitet,
auf dass sie sich zu ihm erhebt, strahlt makelloser Glanz.
Nicht Tag, noch Nacht ist dort, noch Farbe, Form,
und nie und nie ein Wort.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Bertram Kottmann.  Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de

    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 67, first published 1912
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 67 [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-02
Line count: 15
Word count: 107

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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