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Wer traurig sein will, wird vielleicht mich lesen, Und er wird denken zwischen [meinen]1 Zeilen: "Ja, traurig ist auch dieser Mensch gewesen. [Kann]2 seine Traurigkeit die meine heilen?" [Wir wollen uns um unsre]3 Gründe fragen Der Traurigkeit, du Mensch der [späteren]4 Zeiten. Die [meinen]5 wird dir die Geschichte sagen, Die Jahresdaten meiner Traurigkeiten.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Bertold Viertel, Der Lebenslauf. Gedichte, New York: Aurora Verlag, 1946, page 42
1 Eisler: "den"2 Eisler: "Aber kann"
3 Eisler: "Ich will dich nicht über die"
4 Eisler: "besseren"
5 Eisler: "meine"
Text Authorship:
- by Berthold Viertel (1885 - 1953), "Wer traurig sein will", appears in Der Lebenslauf. Gedichte, in Stimmen der Zeit [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 Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Chanson allemande", 1953 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Traurigkeit", published 1962 [ baritone, string orchestra ], from Ernste Gesänge, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Dr. Anthony Krupp) , "Sadness", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Alberto Pedrotti , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 58
He who wishes to be sorrowful might perhaps read me, And between [my]1 lines he shall think: "Yes, this person, too, was sorrowful. [Can]2 his sadness heal mine?" [Let us query each other’s]3 reasons For sadness, you human of [later]4 times. Mine shall be told to you by history, The dates of the years of my sorrows.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslated titles:
"Wer traurig sein will" = "He who wishes to be sorrowful"
"Chanson allemande" = "German song"
"Traurigkeit" = "Sadness"
2 Eisler: " But can"
3 Eisler: "I do not wish to ask you about your"
4 Eisler: "better"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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 Berthold Viertel (1885 - 1953), "Wer traurig sein will", appears in Der Lebenslauf. Gedichte, in Stimmen der Zeit
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 61