Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).
Reminder: You must always use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
In desperate hope I go and search for her in all the corners of my room; I find her not. My house is small and what once has gone from it can never be regained. But infinite is thy mansion, my lord, and seeking her I have to come to thy door. I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky and I lift my eager eyes to thy face. I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish -- no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears. Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean, plunge it into the deepest fullness. Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch in the allness of the universe.
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 87, 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), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 87 [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):
- by Wendy Hiscocks (b. 1963), "In desperate hope", 1998 [ women's chorus a cappella ], from A Tagore Album, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Pouwels.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ; composed by Stefan Wolpe.
Other 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: 2009-11-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 125
Verzweifelt hoffend gehe ich umher und such’ nach ihr in allen Winkeln meines Heims - doch find sie nicht. Mein Haus ist klein, und was einst ging, kann niemals mehr sich finden ein. Dein Wohnsitz, Herr, allein ist endlos groß. Sie suchend, hab’ ich auch an deine Tür zu treten. Ich stehe unter deines Abendhimmels goldnem Baldachin und schau voll Ungeduld zu dir empor. Bis an die Schwelle der Unendlichkeit bin ich getreten, dahin, wo nichts entschwinden kann - nicht Hoffnung, Glück, auch nicht das Bild eines Gesichts, das ich durch Tränen sah. Ach, tauch mein leer geword’nes Leben ein in dieses Meer, senk es in seine tiefste Tiefe, seine ganze Fülle. Und lasse mich ein einzig’ Mal im endlos weiten All diese verlor’ne, zärtliche Berührung spüren.
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
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 87, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 87 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2014-07-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 125