Awake, awake! thou heavy sprite That sleep’st the deadly sleep of sin! Rise now and walk the ways of light, ’Tis not too late yet to begin. Seek heaven early, seek it late; True Faith finds still an open gate. Get up, get up, thou leaden man! Thy track, to endless joy or pain, Yields but the model of a span: Yet burns out thy life’s lamp in vain! One minute bounds thy bane or bliss; Then watch and labour while time is.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Awake, awake, thou heavy sprite" [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 Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Awake, awake, thou heavy sprite", published c1613, from Two Bookes of Ayres - The First Booke, no. 16 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Gebet", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 83
Wach auf, wach auf aus deinem Nichts, Du Seel´, die schwer in Sünden schlief; Steh auf und such den Weg des Lichts! Lägst du im Staub auch noch so tief, Denk an den Tagruf des Gerichts! Such früh den Himmel, such ihn spät: Du weißt, daß er dir offen steht. Drum auf, drum auf, beladner Geist, Und wandle durch die Dunkelheit; Die Lampe, die den Weg dir weist, Ob er nun kurz ist oder weit, Es ist dein Leben, das sie speist. In einem Nu, im Hauch entflohn, Steht deine Seel´ vor Gottes Thron.
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Confirmed with Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten Übersetzt von Richard Flatter, Walter Krieg Verlag, Wien-Bad Bocklet-Zürich, 1954, 2nd edition (1st edition 1936), page 100.
Text Authorship:
- by Richard Flatter (1891 - 1960), "Gebet", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Awake, awake, thou heavy sprite"
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 ]
Researcher for this page: Volkmar Henschel
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 94