by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931)
I know that the day will come
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
Our translations: GER
I know that the day will come when my sight of this earth shall be lost, and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the last curtain over my eyes. Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as before, and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains. When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks and I see by the light of death thy world with its careless treasures. Rare is its lowliest seat, rare is its meanest of lives. Things that I longed for in vain and things that I got -- let them pass. Let me but truly possess the things that I ever spurned and overlooked.
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 92, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 92 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Josef Alexander (1907 - 1992), "I know that the day will come", 1973 [ soprano, harpsichord, and percussion ], from Gitanjali, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ; composed by Stefan Wolpe.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) , first published 1915 ; composed by Edvin Kallstenius.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Andrea Butenschön) , first published 1915
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-13
Line count: 18
Word count: 121
Ich weiss es wird kommen der Tag
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Ich weiss, es wird kommen der Tag, wenn mein Blick diese Welt verliert, das Leben Abschied nimmt in Schweigen, der letzte Vorhang mir über die Augen fällt. Die Sterne werden wachen zur Nacht, der Morgen aufsteigen wie einst, die Stunden sich heben wie Wogen, die Freuden und Schmerzen aufwerfen. Denk ich des Ziels meiner Stunden, dann bricht die Schranke der Stunden, ich sehe beim Lichte des Todes die Welt mit ihren gleichgültigen Schätzen. Leicht wiegt ihr niederster Sitz und leicht das geringste Leben. Dinge, die ich umsonst ersehnt und Dinge, die ich erlangt hab - mögen sie ziehn. Laß mich nur wahrhaft besitzen die Dinge, die stets ich verspottet und übersehn.
Text Authorship:
- by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931), first published 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 92, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 92 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stefan Wolpe (1902 - 1972), "Ich weiss es wird kommen der Tag", 1926 [voice and piano], from Neun Vertonungen aus Gitanjali, no. 3. [text not verified]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-16
Line count: 18
Word count: 110