Do you see the star in the most distant blue

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by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890)

Translation © by John Glenn Paton

Siehst du den Stern im fernsten Blau

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Siehst du den Stern im fernsten Blau,
Der zitternd fast erbleicht?
Sein Licht braucht eine Ewigkeit,
Bis es dein Aug' erreicht!

Vielleicht vor tausend Jahren schon
Zu Asche stob der Stern,
Und doch sehn seinen lieblichen Schein
Wir dort noch still und fern.

Dem Wesen solchen Scheines gleicht,
Der ist und doch nicht ist,
O Lieb', dein anmutvolles Sein,
Wenn du gestorben bist!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• S. Hausegger • O. Schoeck • C. Sinding

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Confirmed with Sämtliche Werke von Gottfried Keller: Romane + Erzählungen + Gedichte + Essays + Tagebücher + Briefe, Musaica Books, 2017.

Text Authorship:

by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), no title, appears in Neuere Gedichte, in Aus der Brieftasche, no. 4 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Caroline Diehl

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65

Do you see the star in the most distant...

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Do you see the star in the most distant blue,
that, trembling, nearly fades out?
Its light takes an eternity,
before it reaches your eyes!

Perhaps already a thousand years ago
the star sparkled and turned to ash,
and yet we see its gentle light
there still, calm and distant.

The nature of such light,
which is and is no more,
resembles, o Love, your gracious being,
after you will have died!

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 by John Glenn Paton, (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 Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), no title, appears in Neuere Gedichte, in Aus der Brieftasche, no. 4
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2018-09-27
Line count: 12
Word count: 76