English translations of Zwei Männerchöre, opus 42

by Friedrich Friedwig Frischenschlager (1885 - 1970)

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1. Wunder der Liebe
 (Sung text)
by Friedrich Friedwig Frischenschlager (1885 - 1970), "Wunder der Liebe", op. 42 (Zwei Männerchöre) no. 2, published 1930 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Oft will das Leben nicht mehr weitergehn,
Bleibt schwarz und zögernd stehn -
O schauerlich verwirrte Tage,
Da alles Lebende in uns sich selber haßt,
Sich selbst an der verhaßten Gurgel faßt,
Anklagend sich und Gott in frevelhafter Frage!

O Wunder, wenn uns dann die Liebe naht
Und unsern finstern Pfad
Mit ihrer stillen Flamme lichtet!
Wär diese Gnade nicht, längst hätten wir
Uns ganz verirrt ins teuflische Revier
Und Licht und Gott in uns vernichtet.

Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Wunder der Liebe", written 1922

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Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 279.


by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
1. The miracle of love
Language: English 
Often life does not want to go on,
It stops blackly and tentatively -
Oh horribly confused days,
When everything living within us hates itself,
Grasps itself by the despised throat,
Accusing itself and God in perfidious query!

Oh what a miracle, when Love then draws near
And lights our dark pathway
With its quiet flame!
Were it not for this mercy, we should long
Have gone utterly astray in the realm of the devil
And have routed out light and God within ourselves.

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.
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This text was added to the website: 2019-05-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 83

Translation © by Sharon Krebs