by
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Geständnis
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
Wer meine Freunde sind? --
Zugvögel, überm Ozean verirrt,
Schiffbrüchige Schiffer, Herden ohne Hirt,
Die Nacht, der Traum, der heimatlose Wind.
Am Wege liegen hinter mir
Zerstörte Tempel, Liebesgärten
Verwildernd, schwül und sommerzier,
Und Frau'n mit welken Liebesgebärden,
Und Meere, die ich überfuhr.
Sie liegen stumm und ohne Spur;
Kennt keiner, was versunken liegt,
Die Königskronen, die Herrscherstunden,
Die Freundesstirnen epheuumwunden.
Sie liegen von meinen Liedern gewiegt
Und dämmern blaß in meine Nächte,
Wenn hastig meine schmale Rechte
Mit raschem Stift in meinem Leben wühlt.
Ich habe nie ein Ziel errungen,
Meine Faust hat nie einen Feind gezwungen,
Mein Herz hat nie ein volles Glück gefühlt.
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Note: quoted in Hesse's
Vollendung.
Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 17-18.
Authorship:
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):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Confession", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Confession", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2014-08-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 105
Confession
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Who my friends are? --
Migratory birds, lost over the ocean,
Shipwrecked sailors, flocks without a shepherd,
The night, the dream, the homeless wind.
Behind me upon the way I passed lie
Ruined temples, gardens of love
Grown wild, humid and adorned with summer,
And women making faded gestures of love,
And seas that I traversed.
They lie mute and without a sign;
No one knows what lies sunken,
The royal crowns, the monarchical hours,
The brows of friends wound about with ivy.
They lie, rocked by my songs
And shine palely into my nights,
When hastily my narrow right [hand]
With rapid pen scrabbles in my life.
I have never attained a goal,
My fist has never compelled a foe,
My heart has never felt a complete happiness.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Geständnis", written 1898
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 128