You who float upward beyond the stars

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by (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die du über die Sterne weg

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Die du über die Sterne weg
  Mit der geleerten Schale
Aufschwebst, um sie am ew'gen Born
  Eilig wieder zu füllen:
Einmal schwenke sie noch, o Glück,
  Einmal, lächelnde Göttin!
Sieh, ein einziger Tropfen hängt
  Noch verloren am Rande,
Und der einzige Tropfen genügt,
  Eine himmlische Seele,
Die hier unten in Schmerz erstarrt,
  Wieder in Wonne zu lösen.
Ach! sie weint dir süßeren Dank,
  Als die anderen alle,
Die du glücklich und reich gemacht;
  Laß ihn fallen, den Tropfen!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• H. Brückler • H. Pfitzner • M. Reger

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Confirmed with Hebbels Werke, Erster Teil, Gedichte -- Mutter und Kind, herausgegeben und mit einem Lebensbild versehen von Theodor Poppe, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., [1908], pages 127-128

Text Authorship:

by (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863), "Gebet", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Vermischte Gedichte [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Jakob Kellner , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 84

You who float upward beyond the stars

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

You who float upward beyond the stars
  With the emptied bowl,
In order to fill it anew with haste:
  At the eternal wellspring,
Shake it just once more, oh Fortune,
  Once more, smiling goddess!
Lo, a single droplet still hangs
  Lost along the rim.
And that single droplet suffices
  To release one heavenly soul,
Which down here is frozen in anguish,
  To release it once more into joy.
Ah, it shall weep sweeter gratitude to you
  Than all the other souls
Whom you have made happy and wealthy;
  Let it fall, the droplet!

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Translations of title(s):
"Gebet an die Glücksgöttin" = "Prayer to the goddess of good fortune"
"Gebet" = "Prayer"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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 (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863), "Gebet", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Vermischte Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2017-02-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 96