by
Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)
St. Peters‑Friedhof
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
Ringsum ist Felseneinsamkeit.
Des Todes bleiche Blumen schauern
auf Gräbern, die im Dunkel trauern -
doch diese Trauer hat kein Leid.
Der Himmel lächelt still herab
in diesen traumverschlossnen Garten,
wo stille Pilger seiner warten,
es wacht das Kreuz auf jedem Grab.
Die Kirche ragt wie ein Gebet
vor einem Bilde ewiger Gnaden,
manch Licht brennt unter den Arkaden,
das stumm für arme Seelen fleht --
Indes die Bäume blüh'n zur Nacht,
daß sich des Todes Antlitz hülle
in ihrer Schönheit schimmernde Fülle,
die Tote tiefer träumen macht.
Confirmed with Gudrun Susanne Littek, Existenz als Differenz: der "Dichter" im Werk Georg Trakls, Marburg, Tectum Verlag, 1995, page 28.
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 (Bertram Kottmann) , "St. Peter's Graveyard", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Cimetière de Saint Pierre", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Bertram Kottmann , Maria Nimmerfall
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 87
St. Peter's Graveyard
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
All round a solitude twixt stones.
The pallid flowers of death do shudder
on gravesites mourning in the darkness -
this mourning, yet, is without pain.
The heavens silently smile down
into this dream-enclosèd garden,
where silent pilgrims wait with reverence.
The cross, a guard upon each grave.
The chapel rises like a prayer
before an icon of grace eternal,
some candles burn under the arcades
and mutely plead for the poor souls -
meanwhile the trees blossom by night
the countenance of death to shroud in
their beauty's glimmering abundance,
which makes the dead dream deeper yet.
Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "St.-Peters-Friedhof "
This text was added to the website: 2016-06-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 98