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by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

Pain
 (Sung text for setting by S. Ebel)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
Your pain is the breaking of the shell 
that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, 
that its heart may stand in the sun, 
so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder 
at the daily miracles of your life, 
your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, 
even as you have always accepted the seasons 
that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity 
through the winters of your grief.

Note: this is a prose text. Line breaks were added arbitrarily.


Composition:

    Set to music by Steven Ebel , "Pain", 2010 [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ], from Cycle eternal, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), appears in The Prophet

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Vom Schmerz", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-20
Line count: 13
Word count: 93

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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