Todesmusik
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE
In des Todes Feierstunde
Senke, heilige Kamöne,
Noch einmal die stillen Lieder,
Noch einmal die süßen Töne
Auf die tiefe Abschiedswunde
Meines Busens heilend nieder,
Hebe aus den ird'schen Ringen
Die bedrängte reine Seele,
Trage sie auf deinen Schwingen:
Daß sie sich dem Licht vermähle. -
O da werden mich die Klänge
Traut und wonnevoll umwehen,
Und die Ketten, die ich sprenge,
Werden still und leicht vergehen.
Alles Große werd' ich sehen,
Das im Leben mich beglückte,
Alles Schöne, das mir blühte,
Wird verherrlicht vor mir stehen.
Jeden Stern, der mir erglühte,
Der mit freundlichem Gefunkel
Durch das hoffnungslose Dunkel
Meines kurzen Weges blickte,
Jede Blume, die ihn schmückte,
Werden mir die Töne bringen;
Und die schrecklichen Minuten,
Wo ich schmerzlich könnte bluten,
Werden mich mit Lust umklingen;
Und Verklärung werd' ich sehen
Ausgegossen über allen Dingen.
So in Wonne werd' ich untergehen,
Süß verschlungen von der Freude Fluthen.
View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Gedichte von Franz von Schober. Stuttgart und Tübingen. J. G. Cotta'scher Verlag. 1842, pages 70-71; and with Gedichte von Franz von Schober. Zweite, vermehrte Auflage. Leipzig Verlagsbuchhandlung von J. J. Weber. 1865, pages 85-86.
Note: Schubert received all the poems from Schober in handwritten form. A (possibly later) autograph of this poem is kept in the Vienna City Library. The lines added by Schubert in the first footnote below appear in Schober's manuscript, but were crossed out.
Text Authorship:
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Peter Rastl
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 31
Word count: 153
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
In death’s solemn hour,
Cover me, holy Naiad,
Once more with quiet songs,
Once more with sweet tones
And from the deep wounds of parting
In my breast, heal me.
Lift from this earthly struggle
My anguished, pure soul,
Carry it on your wings,
That it may wed the light.
Oh then will I, with sounds
Both safe and blissful, be soothed,
And the chains that I'll burst
Will disappear in silence and light.
All the wonders will I see
That in life gave me joy,
Everything beautiful that happened to me
Will stand glorified before me.
Every star that burned for me,
That with its friendly twinkling,
Through the hopeless darkness,
Brightened my short time on earth, and
Every flower that I adorned myself with,
Will produce musical tones.
And those terrible minutes,
During which I could have paid dearly,
Will ring around me with pleasure,
And I shall see transfiguration
Poured out over all things.
So in bliss will I sink down,
Sweetly engulfed by floods of joy.
View text with all available footnotes
Translator's note for stanza 2, line 14 ("musical tones") : this has an excited quality, as "Hast du Töne!" can also mean "Did you ever!"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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:
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This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 31
Word count: 174
