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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

O wenn ein Herz, längst wohnend im...
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
O wenn [ein]1 Herz, längst wohnend im Entwöhnen,
von aller Kunft und Zuversicht getrennt,
erwacht und plötzlich hört, wie man es nennt:
»Du Überfluß, Du Fülle [alles]2 Schönen!« 

Was soll es tun? Wie sich dem Glück versöhnen,
das [endlich]3 seine Hand und Wange kennt?
Schmerz zu verschweigen war sein Element,
nun zwingt das Liebes-Staunen es, zu tönen.

Hier tönt ein Herz, das sich im Gram verschwieg,
und zweifelt, ob ihm dies zu Recht gebühre:
o reich zu sein in seiner Armut Sieg.

Wer hat denn Fülle? Wer verteilt das Meiste?--
Wer so verführt, daß er ganz weit verführe:
Denn auch der Leib ist leibhaft erst im Geiste.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   H. Apostel 

H. Apostel sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Gedichte, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997, pages 1023-1024.

1 Lilien: "mein"; further changes may exist not shown above.
2 Apostel: "eines"
3 Apostel: "kommt und"

Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Sonett" [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 Hans Erich Apostel (1901 - 1972), "O wenn ein Herz, - - -", op. 6 (Vier Lieder) no. 1, published 1937, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], Wien: Universal-Edition, Nr. 10917 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Robert Haas (1886 - 1960), "Ein Herz" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ignace Lilien (1897 - 1964), "O wenn mein Herz", 1922, copyright © 1960 [ low voice or medium voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte von R.M. Rilke, no. 6, Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (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: 2018-10-09
Line count: 14
Word count: 110

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