Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Sommer ward alt und müd, Läßt sinken die grausamen Hände, Blickt leer übers Land. Es ist nun zu Ende, Er hat seine Feuer versprüht, Seine Blumen verbrannt. So geht es allen. Am Ende Blicken wir müd zurück, Hauchen fröstelnd in leere Hände, Zweifeln, ob je ein Glück, Je eine Tat gewesen. Weit liegt unser Leben zurück, Blaß wie Märchen, die wir gelesen. Einst hat Sommer den Frühling erschlagen, Hat sich jünger und stärker gewußt. Nun nickt er und lacht. In diesen Tagen Sinnt er auf eine ganz neue Lust: Nichts mehr wollen, allem entsagen, Hinsinken und die blassen Hände dem kalten Tode lassen, Nichts mehr hören noch sehen, Einschlafen . . . erlöschen . . . vergehen . . .
About the headline (FAQ)
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 323-324.
Text Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Sommer ward alt . . .", written 1933 [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 Christian Immo Schneider (b. 1935), "Sommer ward alt und müd", 1980 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2019, (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: 2009-06-02
Line count: 22
Word count: 120
Summer has grown old and weary, It lets its cruel hands drop, It gazes emptily over the land. [Summer] is now at an end, It has spewed forth its fires, It has burned its flowers. Thus it happens to all. At the end We gaze back wearily, Trembling with cold, we blow into empty hands, We doubt whether there was ever A happiness, a deed. Our life lies far in the past, Pale as fairy-tales that we once read. Once summer slew springtime, Knew itself to be younger and stronger. Now it nods and laughs. In these days It thinks of a completely new pleasure: To want nothing any longer, to renounce everything, To sink down and give its pale hands Over to cold death, Neither to hear or to see anything more, To fall asleep . . . to be extinguished . . . to pass away . . .
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Sommer ward alt . . ." = "Summer has grown old . . . "
"Sommer ward alt und müd" = "Summer has grown old and weary"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Sommer ward alt . . .", written 1933
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-19
Line count: 22
Word count: 151