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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

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

When the creation was new
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
When the creation was new 
and all the stars shone in their first splendour, 
the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang 
'Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'

But one cried of a sudden - 
'It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light 
and one of the stars has been lost.'

The golden string of their harp snapped, their song stopped, 
and they cried in dismay - 
'Yes, that lost star was the best, 
she was the glory of all heavens!'

From that day the search is unceasing for her, 
and the cry goes on from one to the other 
that in her the world has lost its one joy!

Only in the deepest silence of night 
the stars smile and whisper among themselves -
 'Vain is this seeking! 
unbroken perfection is over all!'

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 78, 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. 78 [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

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: 18
Word count: 140

Zu Anbeginn der Schöpfung
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Zu Anbeginn der Schöpfung, 
als alle Stern’ in ihrem ersten Glanz erstrahlten,
versammelten die Götter sich am Himmel und sangen
„O Abbild der Vollendung! O Freude, ungetrübt!“

Doch jäh schallt eines Gottes Ruf:
„Es scheint das Band des Lichts gerissen -
verloren ist ein Stern.“

Drauf sprang der Harfe goldne Saite, verstummt ihr Lied,
und in Bestürzung riefen sie:
„Entschwunden ist der beste Stern,
die Glorie aller Himmel!“

Seit diesem Tage ruht die Suche nicht nach ihm,
der Aufschrei geht von Mund zu Mund,
dass mit dem Stern die einz’ge Freude ging verloren!

Nur in der Nächte tiefster Stille
lächelt, wispert es von Stern zu Stern:
„Ihr sucht umsonst! 
Denn über allem waltet die ursprüngliche Vollkommenheit!“

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. 78, 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. 78 [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 115

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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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