Starlit night | My soul, can you not pray?

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Sternklare Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG FRE

Meine Seele, kannst du nicht beten?
Sieh, wie die Sterne wunderbar 
Aus der gewölbten Bläue treten.
Und droben leuchten schön und klar.

Das sind die Lichter deren Glänzen
Dich ehemals so tief entzückt.
Und die du mit den bunten Kränzen
Verliebter Lieder hast geschmückt.

Ich fühle wohl wie du bezwungen
Vor der gestirnten Nacht dich neigst --
Sind deine Lieder alle versungen,
O meine Seele, daß du schweigst?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• V. Patrick

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.

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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 122.

Note: some sources have a typo in stanza 3, line 2 : "neigst" erroneously becomes "zeigst".

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Sternklare Nacht", written 1901 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

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

This text was added to the website: 2008-11-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

Starlit night

NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

My soul, can you not pray?
See how wondrously the stars
Emerge from the vaulted blue.
And shine above, beautiful and clear.

Those are the lights whose sparkling
Once enraptured you so deeply.
And which you adorned with 
The colourful wreaths of lovestruck songs.

Indeed I feel how, conquered, you
Bow down before the starry night --
Are all your songs sung out,
Oh my soul, that you remain silent?

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Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Sternklare Nacht", written 1901
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2019-02-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 70