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Meine Lebenszeit verstreicht,
Stündlich eil ich zu dem Grabe,
Und was ist's, das ich vielleicht,
Das ich noch zu leben habe?
Denk, o Mensch, an deinen Tod!
Säume nicht, denn Eins ist Not!
Lebe, wie du, wenn du stirbst,
Wünschen wirst, gelebt zu haben
Güter, die du hier erwirbst,
Würden, die dir Menschen gaben;
Nichts wird dich im Tod erfreun;
Diese Güter sind nicht dein.
Nur ein Herz, das Gutes liebt,
Nur ein ruhiges Gewissen,
Das vor Gott dir Zeugnis gibt,
Wird dir deinen Tod versüßen;
Dieses Herz, von Gott erneut,
Ist des Todes Freudigkeit.
Wenn in deiner letzten Not
Freunde hülflos um dich beben:
Dann wird über Welt und Tod
Dich dies reine Herz erheben;
Dann erschreckt dich kein Gericht;
Gott ist deine Zuversicht.
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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4 of the original text.
Mimicked by Daumer in the first stanza of his free translation from Hafis, Meine Lebenszeit verstreicht.Composition:
- Set to music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788), "Vom Tode", Wq 194 no. 37, stanzas 1-4 [ voice and harpsichord or piano ], from Geistliche Oden und Lieder mit Melodien: Gellert Oden, no. 37
Text Authorship:
- by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715 - 1769)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Jordi López Jové) , "Sobre la mort", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Over de dood", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "On Death", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Angelika Frenzel) , "De la Mort", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Della morte", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Vinzenz Haab
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 225
Trascorre il tempo della mia vita,
ora per ora mi avvicino alla tomba,
che cosa, quanto forse...
ho da vivere ancora?
Pensa, creatura, alla morte!
Non tardare: solo questo conta.
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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2006 by Amelia Maria Imbarrato, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Amelia Maria Imbarrato. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715 - 1769)
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This text was added to the website: 2006-01-11
Line count: 42
Word count: 30