Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben
auf Erden hier.
Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
und schwinden wir.
Und messen unsre trägen [Tritte]1
nach Raum und Zeit.
Und sind - [und]2 wissen's nicht - in [Mitte
der]3 Ewigkeit.

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Swienty, Zilcher: "Schritte"
² Zilcher: "wir"
³ omitted by Swienty.

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803) [author's text not yet checked 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 Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Ein Traum", 1980, copyright © 1984 [ four-part mixed chorus ], from Heide-Skizzen, no. 1, Robitschek, AR 8551 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Pepping (1901 - 1981), "Unser Leben", 1946, published 1949 [ voice and piano ], from Haus- und Trostbuch, no. 32 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Claus Swienty , "Ein Traum" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Wolfes (1892 - 1971), "Ein Traum ist unser Leben", 1956 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Karl Josef Zilcher (1881 - 1948), "Ein Traum ist unser Leben", op. 109 no. 3 [ 2 voices, 2 harmonicas ], from Fünf Duette für zwei Singstimmen und zwei Mundharmonikas in C, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Bertram Kottmann , "Our life is but a dream, and dreaming", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sogno, soltanto sogno è l'esistenza", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40