by
Ernst Eckstein (1845 - 1900)
Nirwana
Language: German (Deutsch)
Das ist der fahle, schlummernde See,
Aus dem das Leben geronnen
Mit seinem thränenbeträuften Weh
Und seinen vergänglichen Wonnen.
Ein Traum nur paarte die irdische Pein
Dem traumgeborenen Glücke, --
Und dem es entsprang, das nichtige Sein,
In's Urnichts [rinnt]1 es zurücke.
Gemach ersterben im eisigen All
Des Lichtes zitternde Fluthen;
Die ewigen Götter kommen zu Fall,
Die Sonnenbälle verbluten.
Und bleich verröchelt am Weltensaum
Die fiebernde Episode,
Und einsam klingt im unendlichen Raum
Das Lied vom ewigen Tode.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• P. Geisler View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Ernst Eckstein, In Moll und Dur, Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, 1877, pages 50-51.
1 Geisler: "geht"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eugen (Francis Charles) d'Albert (1864 - 1932), "Nirwana", op. 3 (Zehn Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 10, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Geisler (1856 - 1919), "Nirwana" [ alto and orchestra or piano ], from Sansara für Chor, Soli und Orchestra, no. 7, the piano reduction by Friedrich Spiro was published in 1889 by Raabe & Plothow, Berlin [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Nirvana", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2011-07-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 79
Nirvana
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
That is the pallid, slumbering lake,
Out of which life has drained,
With its tear-bedewed sorrow
And its ephemeral joys.
Only a dream paired earthly suffering
With dream-born happiness, --
And that from which it arose, the futile existence,
It [flows]1 back into the primal nothingness.
Slowly the light's trembling floodwaters
Die in the icy universe;
The eternal gods come to their downfall,
The round suns bleed to death.
And palely at the edge of world
The feverish episode wheezes to its end,
And, lonely in the endless expanse, sounds
The song of eternal death.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Geisler: "goes"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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:
This text was added to the website: 2022-04-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 95
