Aus der Kindheit her Weht ein Klang mir nach, Der mir [einst]1 die Seligkeit versprach -- Ohne ihn wär Leben viel zu schwer. Tönt sein Zauber nicht, Steh ich ohne Licht, Sehe Angst und Dunkel rings umher. Aber immer wieder durch das Leid, Das ich mir erwarb, Klingt der süße Ton voll Seligkeit, Den kein Weh und keine Schuld verdarb. Liebe Stimme du, Licht in meinem Haus, Lösche niemals wieder aus, Tu die blauen Augen niemals zu! Sonst verliert die Welt Allen holden Schein, Stern um Sternlein fällt, Und ich steh allein.
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View original text (without footnotes)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 253.
1 Bauer: "nicht"Text Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Aus der Kindheit her", written 1918 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Franz Bauer , "Aus der Kindheit her", 1943-8 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Christian Immo Schneider (b. 1935), "Aus der Kindheit her ", 1980 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anton Würz (1903 - 1995), "Aus der Kindheit her", op. 36 no. 5 (1948) [ baritone and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Bariton nach Gedichten von Hermann Hesse, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Venint de la infantesa ", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "From my childhood", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Venant de l'enfance", copyright © 2013, (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: 2009-04-29
Line count: 19
Word count: 91