Mahnung
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Genug gemeistert nun die Weltgeschichte!
Die Sterne, die durch alle Zeiten tagen,
Ihr wolltet sie mit frecher Hand zerschlagen
Und jeder leuchten mit dem eignen Lichte.
Doch unaufhaltsam rucken die Gewichte,
Von selbst die Glocken von den Türmen schlagen,
Der alte Zeiger, ohne euch zu fragen,
Weist flammend auf die Stunde der Gerichte.
O stiller Schauer, wunderbares Schweigen,
Wenn heimlichflüsternd sich die Wälder neigen,
Die Täler alle geisterbleich versanken,
Und in Gewittern von den Bergesspitzen
Der Herr die Weltgeschichte schreibt mit Blitzen?
Denn seine sind nicht euere Gedanken.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Mahnung", op. 49 no. 6 (1933) [ baritone, men's chorus, chamber orchestra ], from Kantate. Nach Gedichten von Eichendorff, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Winfried (Petrus Ignatius) Zillig (1905 - 1963), "Mahnung", op. 33 no. 4 (1945), orchestrated 1951 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Sieben Sonette nach Gedichten von Joseph von Eichendorff, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Admonition", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-04-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 88
Admonition
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Enough now of mastering the history of the world!
The stars that dawn through all times,
You wanted to smash them with brazen hands
And each one of you wanted to shine with his own light.
But relentlessly the weights jerk onward,
From the towers the bells ring of their own volition,
The old clock-hand, without asking you,
Points flamingly to the hour of judgement.
Oh silent trembling, awe-filled silence,
When secretly whispering the forests bend,
[When] all of the valleys, ghostly pale, sank away,
And in storms from the mountaintops
The Lord writes the history of the world with lightning bolts?
For His thoughts are not your thoughts.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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:
This text was added to the website: 2013-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 109