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Manchmal seh ich unsre Zeit so hell Wie ein Auge aufgetan, Aus zerschlagnem Wahn Seh ich stürzen Quell um Quell, Und von seinem Kreuz gestiegen Den Erlöser groß und bleich Über allen Kriegen Predigen der Liebe ewiges Reich. Manchmal seh ich nichts als schwarzen Haß, Menschenleiber wutverbissen, Schwache Seelen ohne Maß Im Verbrechen hingerissen, Leid aus hohlen Augen stierend, Und der arme Gott der Liebe irrt, Ehe alles dunkel wird, Übers Blutfeld bang und frierend. Aber neue Blumen bringt Unsre Wiese jeden Tag, Amselschlag Aus der Ulme süß und trunken schwingt, Und die Welt weiß nichts von Morden, Und die Welt ist Kind geworden, Daß wir mit beklommenem Atem stehen Und im duftend lauen Wehen Angst und Leid und Tod nicht mehr verstehen.
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.
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 230.
Text Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Im Frühling 1915", written 1915 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernst Reichert (1901 - 1958), "Im Frühling 1915", published 1957 [ high voice and piano ], from Sechs Gesänge für hohe Stimme nach Texten von Hermann Hesse, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A la primavera del 1915", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "In the spring of 1915", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Au printemps 1915", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-03
Line count: 25
Word count: 123
Sometimes I see our times so clearly As - with an eye open, From out of battered delusion I see plunging wellspring after wellspring, And descended from His cross The Saviour great and pale Above all wars Preaching the eternal realm of love. Sometimes I see nothing but black hate, Men’s bodies obstinate with rage, Weak souls without measure Dragged along in misdeeds, Sorrow staring from hollow eyes, And before all becomes dark, The poor God of Love wanders, Anxious and freezing, across the bloody field. But new flowers are presented By our meadow every day, The song of robins Swings itself forth sweetly and intoxicatingly from the elm, And the world knows nothing of murdering, And world has become a child, So that we stand with anxious breath And in the scented warm blowing [of the breeze] No longer understand fear and suffering and death.
Translator's note: if this translation is being used in Britain, please substitute "robins" with "blackbirds."
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Im Frühling 1915", written 1915
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-03
Line count: 25
Word count: 145