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The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long. I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet. It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune. The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end. My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said 'Here art thou!' The question and the cry 'Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance 'I am!'
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 12, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 12, first published 1912 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 13
Word count: 144
Die Zeit, die meine Reise währt, ist lang, und lang ist auch ihr Weg. Ich reiste mit dem ersten Strahl des Lichts, und fort ging meine Reise durch die Wildnisse der Welten; auf manchem Stern, manchem Planeten ließ ich meine Spur. Der fernste Weg ist es, der dich am nächsten zu dir bringt, und jenes Üben ist das schwierigste, das dir zum einfachsten Lied gereicht. Wer reist, sollte an jeder fremden Türe pochen, die eigne zu erreichen. Die äußren Welten gilt es zu durchschreiten, das Innerste des Schreins am Ende zu erreichen. Mein Blick schweifte in alle Weiten, eh ich die Augen schloss und sagte: „Hier bist du!“ Die Frage und der Ruf „Ach, wo?“ zerfließt in tausend Tränenströme und überströmt die Welt mit der Versicherung „Ich bin!“
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 12, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 12, first published 1912 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 128