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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

O komm und geh, Du, fast noch Kind,...
Language: German (Deutsch) 
O komm und geh, Du, fast noch Kind, ergänze
für einen Augenblick die Tanzfigur
zum reinen Sternbild einer jener Tänze,
darin wir die dumpf ordnende Natur

[vergänglich übertreffen.]1 Denn sie regte
sich völlig hörend nur, da Orpheus sang.
Du warst noch die von damals her Bewegte
und leicht befremdet, wenn ein Baum sich lang

besann, mit dir nach dem Gehör zu gehn.
Du wusstest noch die Stelle, wo die Leier
sich tönend hob —; die unerhörte Mitte.

Für sie versuchtest du die schönen Schritte
und hofftest, einmal zu der heilen Feier
des Freundes Gang und Antlitz hinzudrehn.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   H. Birtwistle 

H. Birtwistle sets lines 5-6

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Sonette an Orpheus, Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1923

1 omitted by Birtwistle.

Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 2, no. 28 [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 Harrison Birtwistle, Sir (1934 - 2022), "Elegy 21, Sonnet II, 28", 2003-04, first performed 2004, lines 5-6 [ oboe, harp and countertenor ], from Orpheus elegies, no. 15, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Walter Arlen.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 98

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