Would I like to be a comet? | Would I like to be a comet?

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by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)

Translation © by John Glenn Paton

Möchte ich ein Komet sein?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Möchte ich ein Komet sein?
Ich glaube. Denn sie haben
die Schnelligkeit der Vögel,
sie blühen am Feuer,
und sind wie Kinder
an Reinheit.
Größeres zu wünschen,
kann nicht des Menschen Natur
sich vermessen.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843) [author's text not yet checked 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 Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Möchte ich ein Komet sein?", published 1956, from Fünf Fragmente von Friedrich Hölderlin, no. 3. [
text verified 1 time
]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , title 1: "Would I like to be a comet?", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: John Glenn Paton [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-08
Line count: 9
Word count: 34

Would I like to be a comet?

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Would I like to be a comet?
I think so.  Because they have
the speed of birds,
they bloom with fire,
and are like children
in their purity.
To wish for something greater,
human nature
cannot presume.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 by John Glenn Paton, (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 Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-17
Line count: 9
Word count: 37