by
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Jugend, du schöner Traum?
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: CAT ENG FRE
Jugend, du schöner Traum?
Nächtelang, die Stirn in heißer Hand,
Bin ich über Büchern wach gesessen.
Was ich suchte, fand ich nicht; und was ich fand,
Hab ich seither jahrelang vergessen.
Nächtelang mit heiß entbranntem Mund
War ich dann Gespiele schöner Frauen,
Und der Liebe Rätsel ward mir kund,
Reich an loher Lust und reich an Grauen.
Nächtelang versonnen und allein
Sitz ich nun und fühle mich versinken
In die wirre Nacht von Rausch und Wein,
Deren Lichter mir wie Geister winken.
Weisheit, der ich lange nachgejagt,
Worte, Lieder fühl ich in mir reifen
Und ich laß sie still und ungesagt
In die blauen Dämmerungen schweifen.
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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 65.
Text Authorship:
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Sharon Krebs
[Senior Associate Editor]This text was added to the website: 2009-05-01
Line count: 17
Word count: 108
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Youth, you lovely dream?
Night after night, my brow in my hot hands,
I sat wakeful over my books.
What I sought, I did not find, and what I found
I have since forgotten for years.
Night after night with fervently burning lips
I was then the playfellow of beautiful women,
And love’s enigmas were revealed to me,
Rich in blazing passion and rich in horror.
Night after night pensive and alone
I now sit and feel myself sink down
Into the tumultuous night of intoxication and wine,
Whose lights beckon to me like spirits.
Wisdom, which I long pursued,
Words, poems, I feel ripening within me
And, silent and unsaid, I let them
Drift off into blue twilights.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Translations of title(s):
"Nächtelang, die Stirn in heißer Hand" = "Night after night, my brow in my hot hands"
"Nächtelang" = "Night after night"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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:
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website: 2019-03-18
Line count: 17
Word count: 121
