O sähst du mich jetzt beten
zu deinen [heiligtiefen]1 Augen,
die fragend zu mir flehten
wie nach Liebe,
du schlössest deine tiefen Augen,
daß ich nicht drein [versinke]2
wie in Liebe.

O sähst du, wie ich bete
zu deiner kinderfrohen Seele,
[die bittend zu mir flehte
wie nach Leben,]3
es schwiege deine Kinderseele,
daß sie nicht untergehe
in meiner Liebe.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Marx: "heilig tiefen"
² Marx: "vergehe"
³ omitted by Marx

Text Authorship:

• by Ernst Heinz Hess (b. 1881) [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 Ernst Adolf Boehe (1880 - 1938), "Nachtgebet", op. 1 no. 4 (1900), published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, München, Schmid Nachf. [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Nachtgebet", 1910, published 1912 [ tenor and piano ], in Lieder und Gesänge, II. Folge, Nr. 26 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Linda Godry) , "Night prayer", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Prière de la nuit", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 60