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Ringsum ruhet die Stadt; still wird die erleuchtete Gasse, Und, mit Fackeln geschmückt, rauschen die Wagen hinweg. Satt gehn heim, von Freuden des Tags zu ruhen die Menschen, Und Gewinn und Verlust wäget ein sinniges Haupt Wohlzufrieden [zu]1 Haus; leer steht von Trauben und Blumen Und von Werken der Hand ruht der geschäftige Markt. Aber [das]2 Saitenspiel tönt fern aus Gärten; vielleicht daß Dort ein Liebender spielt, oder ein einsamer Mann Ferner Freunde gedenkt und der Jugendzeit; und die Brunnen, [Immerquillend]3 und frisch, rauschen am duftenden Beet, Still in dämmriger Luft ertönen geläutete Glocken, Und der Stunden gedenk rufet ein Wächter die Zahl. Jetzt auch kommet ein Wehn und reget die Gipfel des Hains auf, Sieh!, und das Ebenbild unserer Erde, der Mond Kommet geheim nun auch, die Schwärmerische, die Nacht kommt; Voll mit Sternen und wohl wenig bekümmert um uns Glänzt die Erstaunende dort, die Fremdlingin unter den Menschen Über Gebirgeshöhn traurig und prächtig herauf.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Note: This is just the first stanza of a much longer poem
1 Diepenbrock: "im"
2 Diepenbrock: "ein"
3 Diepenbrock: "Immer quellend"
Authorship:
- by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Brot und Wein", appears in Gedichte 1800-1804, in Elegien, first published 1800 [author's text not yet checked 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 Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Die Nacht", 1911 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Karl) Emil Kauffmann (1836 - 1909), "Die Nacht", op. 16, published 1884 [ soli, men's chorus, and piano ], Stuttgart, Zumsteeg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Die Nacht", op. 67 (Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Friedrich Hölderlin) no. 2 (1947) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "The night", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 156
All around the city rests; the illuminated street becomes quiet, and, decked with torches, the wagons rumble away. Sated with the pleasures of the day, people go home to rest, and a thoughtful head ponders the profits and losses in great satisfaction at home. The busy market stands empty of grapes and flowers and rests from the works of human hands. But a stringed instrument sounds from gardens far away; perhaps it is that a lover is playing or a lonely man is thinking about distant friends and youthful times. And the fountains, constantly bubbling and fresh, are rippling by fragrant flowerbeds. Quietly in the twilight air sound out the ringing bells, and as a reminder of the hours a watchman calls out the number. Now, too, comes a stirring and sets the treetops of the grove moving. Look! And the mirror image of our earth, the moon, comes secretly now also. The visionary one, night, comes, filled with stars, and indeed little concerned about us gleams the astonishing one there, the stranger among humankind, over mountain heights sadly and gloriously gleams on us.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2000 by John Glenn Paton, (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 Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Brot und Wein", appears in Gedichte 1800-1804, in Elegien, first published 1800
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 185