Ich war des Augenblickes nicht bewusst

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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

I was not aware of the moment

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Our translations: GER

I was not aware of the moment 
when I first crossed the threshold of this life.

What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery 
like a bud in the forest at midnight!

When in the morning I looked upon the light I felt in a moment 
that I was no stranger in this world, 
that the inscrutable without name and form 
had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.

Even so, in death the same unknown will appear 
as ever known to me. 
And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.

The child cries out when from the right breast the mother takes it away, 
in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 95, 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. 95 [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

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: 134

Ich war des Augenblickes nicht bewusst

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Ich war des Augenblickes nicht bewusst, 
als ich durchschritt das Tor in dieses Leben.

Und welche Kraft bewirkte es, mich diesem unermesslichen Geheimnis zu eröffnen,
der Knospe gleich im Wald zur Mitternacht.

Als ich am Morgen schaut’ empor zum Licht, fühlt ich sogleich,
dass ich kein Fremder war in dieser Welt,
und dass das Rätselhafte, form- und namenlos,
mich in Gestalt der Mutter in den Arm genommen.

So wird im Tod dasselbe Unbekannte mir erscheinen 
als etwas, das schon immer mir bekannt.
Und da ich dieses Leben liebe, lieb’ ich desgleichen auch den Tod.

Ein Säugling weint, wenn ihm die rechte Brust entzogen,
und findet an der linken Trost sogleich.

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), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 95, first published 1912
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 95 [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-21
Line count: 13
Word count: 110