What is transient rapidly wilts

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Schnell welkt das Vergängliche

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Schnell welkt das Vergängliche.
Schnell stieben die verdorrten Jahre davon.
Spöttisch blicken die scheinbar ewigen Sterne.
 
In uns innen der Geist allein
Mag unbewegt schauen das Spiel,
Ohne Spott, ohne Schmerz.
Ihm sind "vergänglich" und "ewig"
Gleich viel, gleich wenig . . .
 
Aber das Herz
Wehrt sich, glüht auf in Liebe,
Und ergibt sich, welkende Blume,
Dem unendlichen Todesruf,
Dem unendlichen Liebesruf.

About the headline (FAQ)

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View text with all available 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 313.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Bei der Nachricht vom Tod eines Freundes", written 1930 [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 Kurt Driesch (1904 - 1989), "Nach dem Empfang einer Todesnachricht", op. 14 (1936) [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Gerhard Schumann (b. 1914), "Bei der Nachricht vom Tod eines Freundes" [ baritone and string quartet ], from Drei Gesänge für Bariton und Streichquartett, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-04
Line count: 13
Word count: 66

What is transient rapidly wilts

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

What is transient rapidly wilts.
The withered years drift rapidly away.
The seemingly eternal stars gaze down mockingly.
 
Within us the spirit alone
May regard the play with equanimity,
Without derision, without pain.
To the spirit, "ephemeral" and "eternal"
Mean equally much, equally little . . .
 
But the heart
Resists, flames up in love
And surrenders itself, a wilting flower,
To the unending summons of death,
The unending summons of love.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translated titles:
"Bei der Nachricht vom Tod eines Freundes" = "Upon hearing the news of a friend’s death"
"Nach dem Empfang einer Todesnachricht" = "After receiving news of a death"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Bei der Nachricht vom Tod eines Freundes", written 1930
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-09-29
Line count: 13
Word count: 75