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[Durch]1 kahlen Waldes Astgeflecht Sinkt weiß aus grauen Lüften erster Schnee Und sinkt und sinkt. Wie ward die Welt so stumm! Kein Blatt, das rauscht, kein Vogel im Gezweig, Nur Weiß und Grau und Stille, Stille. Der Wandrer auch, der grün und bunte Monde Durchwanderte mit Laute und Gesang, Ist stumm geworden und der Freude müd, Des Wanderns müd, der Lieder müd. Ihn schauert, aus den kühlen grauen Höhn Weht Schlaf ihn an, und leise sinkt Und sinkt der Schnee... Noch spricht aus fernem Frühling her Und hingewelktem Sommerglück Erinnerung Mit blaß verwehenden Bildern: Kirschblütenblätter schleiernd durch ein Blau, Ein holdes lichtes Blau -- Mit zartem Flügelzittern hängt am Halm Ein junger Falter braun und gold -- Aus laulicht feuchter Sommerwaldnacht Sehnsüchtig langgezognes Vogellied... Der Wandrer nickt den lieben Bildern zu: Wie war das schön! Und manches flattert noch Aus jenem Einstmals auf, glänzt und erlischt: Ein dunkelsüßer Blick aus Liebesaugen -- Ein Nachtgewitter, Blitz und Sturm im Schilf -- Ein Flötenlied aus fremdem Abendfenster -- Ein greller Häherschrei im Morgenwald... Es sinkt und sinkt der Schnee. Der Wanderer Lauscht Vogelflug und Flöte nach, Den einst erklungenen, herzbewegenden: O schöne Welt, wie bist du so verstummt! Unhörbar geht er hin durchs weiche Weiß Der Heimat zu, der langvergeßnen, Die jetzt mit sanftem Zwange ruft, Dem Tale zu, dem Erlenbach, Dem Markt, dem alten Vaterhaus, Der Efeumauer, hinter der die Mutter, Der Vater und die Ahnen ruhn. Kein Blatt das rauscht, kein Vogel im Gezweig...
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View original text (without footnotes)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 387-388.
1 Lache (possibly): "Durch des"Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Wanderer im Spätherbst", written 1956 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Wilhelm Lache , "Wanderer im Spätherbst", 1957 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Wanderer in late autumn", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-05-21
Line count: 40
Word count: 239
Through the woven branches of a bare forest The first snow falls1 down from the grey air And falls1 and falls1. How mute the world has become! No leaf that rustles, no bird in the branches, Only white and grey and stillness, stillness. The wanderer, too, who wandered through Green and colourful months with lute and song, Has fallen mute and is weary of joy, Weary of wandering, weary of songs. He shudders; from the cool grey heights Sleeps is wafted toward him, and quietly falls1 And falls1 the snow... Memory still speaks from distant spring And wilted summer joys, With pale fading images: Cherry blossom petals falling through the blue like a veil, A lovely luminous blue -- With delicate trembling of its wings a young Butterfly of brown and gold hangs upon the stalk -- From the gloaming of a humid summer forest night Yearning, sustained birdsong... The wanderer nods to the beloved images: How lovely that was! And many a thing still rises Flutteringly from that once-upon-a-time, shines and is extinguished: A darkly sweet glance from the eyes of love -- A thunderstorm at night, lightning and storm in the reeds -- A flute song from a foreign evening window -- The strident scream of a jay in the morning wood... The snow falls1 and falls1. The wanderer Harkens after the bird-flight and flute That once rang out, moving his heart: Oh lovely world, how have you fallen mute! Silently he walks through the soft whiteness Toward his homeland, long-forgotten, That now calls him with gentle compulsion, Toward the valley, the alder-bordered brook, The marketplace, the old house of his father, The ivy-covered stone wall, behind which his mother, His father and his ancestors rest. No leaf that rustles, no bird in the branches...
1 Literally "sinks"
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 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), "Wanderer im Spätherbst", written 1956
This text was added to the website: 2018-04-20
Line count: 40
Word count: 292