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Wenn aus der Ferne, da wir geschieden sind, Ich dir noch kennbar bin, die Vergangenheit O du Teilhaber meiner Leiden! Einiges Gute bezeichnen dir kann, So sage, wie erwartet die Freundin dich In jenen Gärten, da nach entsetzlicher Und dunkler Zeit wir uns gefunden? Hier an den Strömen der heilgen Urwelt. Das muß ich sagen, einiges Gutes war In deinen Blicken, als in den Fernen du Dich einmal fröhlich umgesehen Immer verschlossener Mensch, mit finstrem Aussehn. Wie flossen Stunden dahin, wie still War meine Seele über der Wahrheit daß Ich so getrennt gewesen wäre? Ja! ich gestand es, ich war die deine. Wahrhaftig! wie du alles Bekannte mir In mein Gedächtnis bringen und schreiben willst, Mit Briefen, so ergeht es mir auch Daß ich Vergangenes alles sage. Wars Frühling? war es Sommer? die Nachtigall Mit süßem Liede lebte mit Vögeln, die Nicht ferne waren im Gebüsche Und mit Gerüchen umgaben Bäum' uns. Die klaren Gänge, niedres Gestrauch und Sand Auf dem wir traten, machten erfreulicher Und lieblicher die Hyazinthe Oder die Tulpe, Viole, Nelke. Um Wänd und Mauern grünte der Epheu, grünt' Ein selig Dunkel hoher Alleeen. Oft Des Abends, Morgens waren dort wir Redeten manches und sahn uns froh an. In meinen Armen lebte der Jüngling auf, Der, noch verlassen, aus den Gefilden kam, Die er mir wies, mit einer Schwermut, Aber die Namen der seltnen Orte Und alles Schöne hatt' er behalten, das An seligen Gestaden, auch mir sehr wert Im heimatlichen Lande blühet Oder verborgen, aus hoher Aussicht, Allwo das Meer auch einer beschauen kann, Doch keiner sein will. Nehme vorlieb, und denk An die, die noch vergnügt ist, darum, Weil der entzückende Tag uns anschien, Der mit Geständnis oder der Hände Druck Anhub, der uns vereinet. Ach! wehe mir! Es waren schöne Tage. Aber Traurige Dämmerung folgte nachher. Du seiest so allein in der schönen Welt Behauptest du mir immer, Geliebter! das Weißt aber du nicht,
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Friedrich Hölderlin, Sämtliche Gedichte und Hyperion, Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 1999, pages 451-453.
Authorship:
- by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Wenn aus der Ferne...", appears in Späteste Gedichte 1806-1843 [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 Gottfried von Einem (1918 - 1996), "An Diotima", op. 42 no. 5, first performed 1975 [ mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra ], from cantata An die Nachgeborenen, no. 5, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Josef Matthias Hauer (1883 - 1959), "An Diotima", op. 21 no. 8, copyright © 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Hölderlin Lieder, no. 8, Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by György Ligeti (1923 - 2006), "Wenn aus der Ferne" [ choral, a cappella ], from Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stefan Wolpe (1902 - 1972), "An Diotima", op. 1 (Fünf Lieder nach Friedrich Hölderlin) no. 2 (1927) [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 51
Word count: 320
When from out of the distance, when we are parted, I am still recognizable to you, the past Oh, you sharer of my sufferings! Can signify to you considerable goodness, Tell then, how does your lover await you In those gardens, since after a harrowing And dark time, we found each other? Here at the rivers of the holy primeval world. That I must say, there was considerable goodness In your glances, when in the distances you Once happily looked around, Ever withdrawn human being, with a sombre Aspect. How the hours flowed away, how quiet Was my soul in regard to the truth that I would be thus separated from you? Yes, I admitted it; I was yours. Verily! just as you wish to bring and inscribe everything That is known to me into my memory, With letters, thus it befalls me, too, That I tell of all that is past. Was it springtime? was it summer? the nightingale With sweet song lived with birds that Were not far away in the bushes And wreathed the trees with scents The clearly discernible alleys, low shrubs and sand Upon which we trod, made more pleasant And lovelier the hyacinth Or the tulip, viola, carnation. Around the walls and rockwork the ivy burgeoned, burgeoned A blessed darkness of lofty canopy roads. Often In the evening, in the morning we were there, Talked of many things and gazed happily at each other. In my arms the youth was revived, He, yet forsaken, came out of the realms To which he directed me, with a melancholy, But the names of the rare places And everything beautiful he had remembered, that On blessed shores, also highly valued by me, Bloomed in our native land Or concealed, from a lofty perspective, There where one can also survey the ocean, But where no one wishes to be. Make do with it, and think Of her who is still content Because the delightful day shone upon us, The day that began with confession or pressing of hands, The day that united us. Ah! woe is me! They were beautiful days. But Mournful twilight followed. You are so alone in the beautiful world, You always assert to me, beloved! but You do not know that,
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslations of title(s):
"An Diotima" = "To Diotima"
"Wenn aus der Ferne..." = "When from out of the distance . . ."
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Wenn aus der Ferne...", appears in Späteste Gedichte 1806-1843
This text was added to the website: 2022-12-07
Line count: 51
Word count: 377