Where to, oh Helios? Into the tides

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by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836)

Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Wohin, o Helios? in Fluthen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE ITA

Wohin, o Helios? in Fluthen
Will ich den Flammenleib versenken,
Gewiß im Innern, neue Gluthen
Der Erde nach Bedarf zu schenken.

Ich nehme nichts, gewohnt zu geben;
Und wie verschwenderisch mein Leben,
Umhüllt mein Scheiden goldne Pracht,
Ich scheide herrlich, naht die Nacht.

Wie bleich der Mond, wie matt die Sterne!
So lang ich kräftig mich bewege,
Erst wenn ich ab die Krone lege,
Wird ihnen Muth und Glanz in ihrer Ferne.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

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Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Mayrhofer. Wien. Bey Friedrich Volke. 1824, page 175.

Note: Schubert received Mayrhofer's texts generally in handwriting; the printed edition of Mayrhofer's poems appeared much later and presents the texts usually in a revised version.

Text Authorship:

by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Freywilliges Versinken" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 78

Where to, oh Helios? Into the tides

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Where to, oh Helios? Into the tides
I want to plunge this blazing body,
Inwardly certain that new flames
Can be supplied to meet earth's demand.

I take nothing, I am used to giving;
And just as my life has been extravagant,
Golden splendour will surround my departure,
I depart majestically as night approaches.

How pale the moon is, how faint the stars
As long as I move so powerfully!
It is only when I lay down my crown
That their courage and glowing in their distant locations appear.

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Translations of title(s):
"Freywilliges Versinken" = "Voluntary annihilation"
"Freiwilliges Versinken" = "Voluntary annihilation"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Malcolm Wren, (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 Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Freywilliges Versinken"
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This text was added to the website: 2019-04-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 93