Pietà

Jetzt wird mein Elend voll, und namenlos
erfüllt es mich. Ich starre wie des Steins
Inneres starrt.
Hart wie ich bin, weiß ich nur Eins:
Du wurdest groß -
... und wurdest groß,
um als zu großer Schmerz
ganz über meines Herzens Fassung
hinauszustehn.
Jetzt liegst du quer durch meinen [Schooß,
jetzt kann]1 ich dich nicht mehr
gebären.

Translation(s): FRE ITA

List of language codes

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Burghardt: "Schoß. / Jetzt kann"

Submitted by Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Authorship

• by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Pieta", appears in Das Marien-Leben, no. 11, first published 1912 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Hans-Georg Burghardt (1909 - 1993), "Pietà", op. 35 no. ? [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Pietà", op. 27 no. 11 (1922-3), rev. 1948, from Das Marienleben, no. 11. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Léon Orthel (1905 - 1985), "Pietà", op. 55 no. 3 (1971). [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by József Soproni (b. 1930), "Pietà" [soprano and piano], from Nyolc dal R. M. Rilke verseire = Eight Songs to Poems by R. M. Rilke, no. 1. [
   text not verified 
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Pietà", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , title 1: "Pieta", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have 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 gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for Lieder or choral works