by
Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)
Vom Schatten eines Hauchs geboren
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
Vom Schatten eines Hauchs geboren
Wir wandeln in Verlassenheit
Und sind im Ewigen verloren,
Gleich Opfern unwissend, wozu sie geweiht.
Gleich Bettlern ist uns nichts zu eigen,
Uns Toren am verschloßnen Tor.
Wie Blinde lauschen wir ins Schweigen,
In dem sich unser Flüstern verlor.
Wir sind die Wandrer ohne Ziele,
Die Wolken, die der Wind verweht,
Die Blumen, zitternd in Todeskühle,
Die warten, bis man sie niedermäht.
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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, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 67
From shadows of a breath arisen
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
From shadows of a breath arisen
we wander, lonely and forlorn
and in eternity forsaken,
like sacrificed ones unknowing to whom.
Like beggars nothing is our own:
fools, standing at the locked-up gate.
And blind we listen to the silence,
in which our whispering got lost.
We wander without destinations,
and clouds we are, blown by the wind,
and flowers, trembling in fear of dying,
which wait until one mows them down.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2016-10-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 72