by
Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg
Und endlich stirbt die Sehnsucht doch ‑‑...
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG ENG
Und endlich stirbt die Sehnsucht doch -- -- --
Wie Blüten sterben im Kellerloch,
[Wenn sie ewig]1 auf ein bißchen Sonne warten.
Wie Thiere sterben, die man lieblos hält,
Und alles Unbetreute in der Welt!
Man [denkt]2 nicht mehr: “Wo wird sie sein!--?!?“
Ruhig erwacht man, ruhig schläft man ein.
Wie in verwehte Jugendtage blickst du zurück
Und [irgend einer]3 sagt dir [weise]4: „'s ist dein Glück!“
Da denkt man, daß es vielleicht wirklich so ist,
Wundert sich still, daß man doch nicht froh ist -- -- --.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Peter Altenberg, „Cyklus: Ljuba“ in Widmungen zur Feier des Siebzigsten Geburtstages Ferdinand von Saar’s, herausgegeben von Richard Specht, Wien: Wiener Verlag, 1903, page 39.
1 Eisler: "Die täglich"
2 Eisler: "fragt"
3 Eisler: "irgendjemand"
4 Eisler: "leise"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- ENG English (Dina Levias) , "And in the end", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Andy Lang , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 83
And in the end
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
And in the end love dies away,
as flowers wilt,
when in a lightless place
they yearn in vain to glimpse the sunshine's rays.
It dies, as do the animals we keep,
for whom we have no feelings,
and all the world's love-starved
and neglected beings.
No longer do I fret,
Where is she now ? Where may she be ?
I wake up peacefully, and peacefully I sleep.
As I look back to bygone youthful years
I hear a whisper in my ears:
"this is a lucky turn for you, my boy"
and think, yes, maybe it is truly so.
Still, quietly I start to wonder: Oh,
but where is gladness, where's the joy ?
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2012-08-18
Line count: 17
Word count: 116