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Ich kann nicht schlafen. Das Sternenlicht Macht alle Fenster blau. Die Nacht Schaut mir so furchtbar ins Gesicht Und wacht, und wacht. Die Stunden gehen ohne Sinn Hinab, hinweg ins andere Land, An dessen unerforschtem Strand Ich bald auch bin. Morgen, morgen, da will mein Herz Wieder leben und unbedacht Sich erlaben an Lust und Schmerz Bis in die Nacht. Morgen, ach, da leb ich nicht mehr, Da bin ich drüben am bleichen Strand; Schlummer winkt mir von ferne her, Vom anderen Land.
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View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 171.
Confirmed with Unterwegs. Gedichte von Hermann Hesse, München: Georg Müller Verlag, 1911, page 29. The poem has no title in this publication.
Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Schlaflosigkeit", written 1907, appears in Unterwegs, in Schlaflosigkeit, no. 2, first published 1911 [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 Laci Boldemann (1921 - 1969), "Sternenlicht" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Escher (1915 - 2008), "Schlaflosigkeit", op. 15 no. 11 (1945) [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder nach Hermann Hesse, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 83
I cannot sleep. The starlight Is making all the windows blue. The night Is peering into my face so mercilessly, And it watches, and watches. The hours pass meaninglessly Downward, away into the other land, Where at its unexplored shore I, too, shall soon be. Tomorrow, tomorrow, my heart wants To live once more and heedlessly Refresh itself with joy and pain Until nightfall. Tomorrow, ah, I shall no longer be living, I shall be yonder at the pale shore; Slumber is beckoning me from far away, From the other land.
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View text with all available footnotesTranslations of title(s):
"Schlaflosigkeit" = "Sleeplessness"
"Sternenlicht" = "Starlight"
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2021 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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Schlaflosigkeit", written 1907, appears in Unterwegs, in Schlaflosigkeit, no. 2, first published 1911
This text was added to the website: 2021-05-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 91