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Sey gegrüßt geweihte Stille, Die mir sanfte Trauer weckt, Wo Natur die [Blumenhülle Blühend]1 über Gräber deckt. Leicht von Wolkenduft getragen, Senkt die Sonne ihren Lauf, Aus der finstern Erde schlagen [Feuerrothe]2 Flammen auf. Ach auch ihr, erstarrte Brüder, Habet sinkend ihn vollbracht, Sankt [auch ihr]3 so herrlich nieder In des Grabes Schauernacht? Schlummert sanft ihr kalten Herzen In der düstern langen Ruh, Eure Wunden, eure Schmerzen, Decket mild die Erde zu. Neu Zerstören, neu Erschaffen, Treibt das Rad der Weltenuhr, Kräfte, die [im]4 Fels erschlaffen, [Leben]5 wieder auf der Flur. Und auch du, geliebte Hülle, Sinkest zuckend einst hinab, Und erblühst in schöner Fülle Neu ein Blümchen auf dem Grab. Wankst ein Flämmchen durch die Grüfte, Irrest flimmernd durch [den]6 Moor - Schwingst ein Strahl dich [in]7 die Lüfte, Klingest hell ein Ton empor! Aber du das in mir lebet, Wirst auch du des Wurmes Raub? Was [mich heiligt,]8 mich erhebet, Bist auch du nur [todter]9 Staub?! Nein - was ich [unsterblich glaube]10, Was [mich heiligt,]8 mich erhebt, [Wird dem Zufall nicht zum Raube, Stammt von ihm, der ewig lebt]11.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Zeitung für die elegante Welt. Herausgegeben von K. L. Methus. Müller. Neunzehnter Jahrgang. 1819. Leipzig, bei Leopold Voß. no. 140. Dienstags, den 20. Juli 1819, column 1113-1114.
Note: Schubert set the poem from Schlechta's manuscript (which has not survived). A variant of the poem has been published in the above source. Much later Schlechta published a heavily revised version of this poem (see below).
1 Schubert: "bunte Hülle / Freundlich"2 Schubert: "Glühend rote"
3 Schubert: "ihr auch"
4 Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "am"
5 Schubert: "Blühen"
6 Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "dies"
7 Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "durch"
8 Schubert: "entzückend"
9 Schubert: "eitel"
10 Schubert: "im Innern fühle"
11 Schubert: "Ist der Gottheit reine Hülle, / Ist ihr Hauch, der in mir lebt" (Neue Gesamtausgabe: "Fülle" instead of "Hülle")
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Xaver Freiherr von Schlechta (1796 - 1875), "Auf dem Kirchhofe", written 1815?, first published 1819 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Auf einen Kirchhof", D 151 (1815), published c1850 [sung text checked 1 time]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Op een kerkhof", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To a churchyard", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À un cimetière", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 193
I greet you, sacred silence that awakens in me gentle mourning, where Nature, with colorful spread, kindly covers the graves. Lightly carried by fragrant mists, the sun sinks in its course, from the dark earth leap up glowing red flames! Ah, you too, stiffening brothers, have run your course; did you sink so splendidly into your graves' horrible night? Slumber gently, you cold hearts, in gloomy, long peace; your wounds and your pains are gently concealed by the Earth! To destroy the new, to create the new - this drives the wheel of the world's clock; power, that lies dormant in the rocks, blooms forth again in the field! And you too, beloved covering, will sink trembling down one day, and bloom again in fine, new abundance, a blossom on the grave. You stagger, a small flame through the vaults, blundering and shimmering through the moor, leaping up, a beam of light; into the air, tolling brightly, a note ascending! But you, who live in me, will you too be the food of worms? What delights and uplifts me, are you, too, but vain dust? No, what I feel inside me, what delights and uplifts me, is God's pure touch, is his breath, that lives in me.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Franz Xaver Freiherr von Schlechta (1796 - 1875), "Auf dem Kirchhofe", written 1815?, first published 1819
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 206