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by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)

Der alte Abt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
  Dort in den [Klostertrümmern]1 geht 
Der alte Abt herum. 
Sein langer Bart im Winde weht, 
Der Rücken ward ihm krumm. 
Nicht mit den Augen sieht er mehr, 
Er tappt nur mit dem Stab. 
Was sucht er doch, was wandert er? 
Die Gräber zählt er ab. 

  Doch, wie er zählt und wie er späht,
Eins fehlt ihm immer noch.
Dann schüttelt er das Haupt und geht,
Kommt morgen wieder doch. 
Die eigne Ruhstatt find't er nicht,
Quält sich allnächtlich ab.
Wenn endlich ganz der Bau zerbricht,
Das ist des Treuen Grab.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with C. Reinhold, Gedichte, Stuttgart: Carl Mäcken, 1853, page 138. First published in the periodical Morgenblatt, January 6, 1836 (No. 5).

1 Breidenstein: "Klostermauern"

Text Authorship:

  • by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), "Der alte Abt", written <<1836, appears in Gedichte, in Lebensbilder, Romanzen und Balladen, first published 1836 [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 Heinrich Karl Breidenstein (1796 - 1876), "Der alte Abt", published 1840 [ voice and piano ], Bonn: Dunst [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Joseph Snowe) , no title
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The old abbot", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-04-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 92

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