by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

An die Freunde in schwerer Zeit
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Auch in diesen dunklern Stunden,
Liebe Freunde, laßt mich gelten;
Ob ich's hell, ob trüb gefunden,
Nie will ich das Leben schelten.

Sonnenschein und Ungewitter
Sind desselben Himmels Mienen;
Schicksal soll, ob süß ob bitter,
Mir als liebe Speise dienen.

Seele geht verschlungene Pfade,
Lernet ihre Sprache lesen!
Morgen preist sie schon als Gnade,
Was ihr heute Qual gewesen.

Sterben können nur die Rohen,
Andre will die Gottheit lehren,
Aus dem Niedern, aus dem Hohen
Seelenhaften Sinn zu nähren.

Erst auf jenen letzten Stufen
Dürfen wir uns Ruhe gönnen,
Wo wir, väterlich gerufen,
Schon den Himmel schauen können.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   B. Stürmer 

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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 233.


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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-26
Line count: 20
Word count: 99

To my friends in difficult times
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
In these darker hours as well,
Dear friends, let my words be heeded;
Whether I found it bright or dreary,
Never shall I berate life.
 
Sunshine and violent storms
Are both faces of the same sky;
Whether sweet or bitter, fate
Shall serve me as a valued repast.
 
The soul walks upon tortuous paths;
Learn to read their message!
Tomorrow already the soul shall praise as a blessing
That which today it felt to be agony.
 
Only the crude can die,
The others the divinity wishes to instruct
How to extract soulful sustenance
From the lowly, from the lofty.
 
Only upon those last steps
May we grant ourselves rest,
There where, summoned in a fatherly manner,
We may already see Heaven.

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Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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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This text was added to the website: 2016-11-17
Line count: 20
Word count: 122