To the clouds | And again and again

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by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

An die Wolken

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Und immer wieder, 
wenn ich mich müde gesehn
an der Menschen Gesichtern,
so vielen Spiegeln 
[unsäglicher]¹ Torheit,
hob ich das Aug
über die Häuser und Bäume 
empor zu euch,
ihr ewigen Gedanken des Himmels.
Und eure Größe und Freiheit
erlöste mich immer wieder,
und ich dachte mit euch 
über Länder und Meere hinweg 
und hing mit euch 
überm Abgrund Unendlichkeit 
und zerging zuletzt 
wie Dunst, 
wenn ich ohn' Maßen 
den Samen der Sterne 
fliegen sah 
über die Äcker 
der unergründlichen Tiefen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• H. Burghardt

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Burghardt: "unendlicher"

Text Authorship:

by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "An die Wolken", appears in Ich und die Welt [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 Fritz Büchtger (1903 - 1978), "An die Wolken", from Das Buch der Liebe [sung text not yet checked]
by Hans-Georg Burghardt (1909 - 1993), "An die Wolken", op. 8 no. ? [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To the clouds", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Aux nuages", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 82

To the clouds

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

And again and again, 
when I grew weary
of looking upon the faces of mankind,
so many mirrors 
of [untold]¹ foolishness,
I lifted my eyes 
over the houses and trees 
up to you,
you eternal thoughts of Heaven.
And your greatness and freedom
redeemed me ever anew,
and with you I sent my thoughts away
beyond the nations and oceans 
and was suspended with you 
over the abyss of infinity
and finally dissolved 
like vapour,
when I saw the seeds 
of the stars, 
beyond all measure, 
flying over fields 
of impenetrable depths.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Burghardt: "unending"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 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 Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "An die Wolken", appears in Ich und die Welt
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-05-31
Line count: 22
Word count: 93