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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Translation by Karl Federn (1868 - 1943)

Youth, large, lusty, loving
Language: English 
Youth, large, lusty, loving --
  Youth full of grace, force, fascination!
Do you know that Old Age may come after you,
  with equal grace, force, fascination?

Day, full-blown and splendid -- 
  Day of the immense sun, action, ambition, laughter.
The Night follows close, with millions of suns, 
  and sleep, and restoring darkness.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Leaves of Grass, in Great are the Myths, no. 1, stanzas 3 and 4 [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 Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night" [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night", published 1957 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Eva Ruth Spalding (1882 - 1969), "Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night", published 1919 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Éditions Senart, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Wolfgang Wijdeveld (1910 - 1985), "Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night", 1949, published 1949 [ medium voice, violin, viola, clarinet, and piano ], from Drie liederen, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon Bazalgette (1873 - 1928) , "Jeunesse, jour, vieillesse et nuit", appears in Feuilles d'herbe ; composed by Eva Ruth Spalding.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Federn (1868 - 1943) , "Jugend, Tag, Alter und Nacht" ; composed by Joseph Marx.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 50

Jugend, du große, lüsterne, liebende!
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Jugend, du große, lüsterne, liebende! --
Jugend voll Anmut -- Jugend voll Kraft und Zauber!
Weißt du, daß das Alter nach dir kommt?
Daß es kommen kann mit gleicher Anmut, gleicher Kraft und gleichem Zauber?

Du vollerblühter glänzender Tag! --
Tag der Sonne, Tag des Lachens, Tag des Ehrgeizes, Tag der Taten!
Die Nacht kommt schnell mit Millionen Sonnen,
  mit Schlaf und mit süßem Dunkel!

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Marx 

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes
Copied from Die Lyrik des Auslandes in neuerer Zeit, ed. Hans Bethge, Leipzig: Max Hesses Verlag, 1907, pages 16-17.

Text Authorship:

  • by Karl Federn (1868 - 1943), "Jugend, Tag, Alter und Nacht" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Leaves of Grass, in Great are the Myths, no. 1, stanzas 3 and 4
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Jugend und Alter", 1909, published 1912 [medium voice and orchestra or piano], in Lieder und Gesänge, II. Folge, Nr.21 [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Youth, Day, Old Age and Night", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Jeunesse et vieillesse", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Barbara Miller , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-12
Line count: 8
Word count: 62

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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