by
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Wunder der Liebe
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Oft will das Leben nicht mehr weitergehn,
Bleibt schwarz und zögernd stehn -
O schauerlich verwirrte Tage,
Da alles Lebende in uns sich selber haßt,
Sich selbst an der verhaßten Gurgel faßt,
Anklagend sich und Gott in frevelhafter Frage!
O Wunder, wenn uns dann die Liebe naht
Und unsern finstern Pfad
Mit ihrer stillen Flamme lichtet!
Wär diese Gnade nicht, längst hätten wir
Uns ganz verirrt ins teuflische Revier
Und Licht und Gott in uns vernichtet.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 279.
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 (Sharon Krebs) , "The miracle of love", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2009-05-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 76
The miracle of love
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Often life does not want to go on,
It stops blackly and tentatively -
Oh horribly confused days,
When everything living within us hates itself,
Grasps itself by the despised throat,
Accusing itself and God in perfidious query!
Oh what a miracle, when Love then draws near
And lights our dark pathway
With its quiet flame!
Were it not for this mercy, we should long
Have gone utterly astray in the realm of the devil
And have routed out light and God within ourselves.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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), "Wunder der Liebe", written 1922
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 84