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Ob ein Gott sei? Ob er einst erfülle,
Was die Sehnsucht weinend sich verspricht?
Ob, vor irgendeinem Weltgericht,
Sich dies rätselhafte Sein enthülle?
Hoffen soll der Mensch! Er frage nicht!
Die du so gern in heil'gen Nächten feierst
Und sanft und weich den Gram verschleierst,
Der eine zarte Seele quält,
O Hoffnung! Laß, durch dich empor gehoben,
Den Dulder ahnen, daß dort oben
Ein Engel seine Tränen zählt!
Wenn, längst verhallt, geliebte Stimmen schweigen;
Wenn unter ausgestorb'nen Zweigen
Verödet die Erinn'rung sitzt:
Dann nahe dich, wo dein Verlaßner trauert
Und, von der Mitternacht umschauert,
Sich auf versunk'ne Urnen stützt.
Und blickt er auf, das Schicksal anzuklagen,
Wenn scheidend über seinen Tagen
Die letzten Strahlen untergehn:
Dann laß' ihn um den Rand des Erdentraumes
Das Leuchten eines Wolkensaumes
Von einer nahen Sonne seh'n!
Die du so gern in heil'gen Nächten feierst
Und sanft und weich den Gram verschleierst,
Der eine zarte Seele quält,
O Hoffnung! Laß, durch dich empor gehoben,
Den Dulder ahnen, daß dort oben
Ein Engel seine Tränen zählt!
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,2 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "An die Hoffnung", op. 94 (1813), stanzas 1-4,2
Text Authorship:
- by Christoph August Tiedge (1752 - 1841), no title, appears in Urania, in Erster Gesang (Klagen des Zweiflers)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan de hoop", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To Hope", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À l'espérance", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 134
Is there a God? Will he someday fulfill
The promises for which longing cries out?
Will, before the court of the world,
This puzzle ever reveal itself?
Man must hope. He does not ask!
You, who so gladly celebrates on sacred nights
And gently and softly veils the grief
That torments a tender soul,
O Hope! Raised through you,
Let the sufferer feel that there above,
An angel counts his tears!
When, long hushed, beloved voices are silenced,
When, underneath dead branches
Memory sits desolate,
Then come closer to where your forsaken one mourns
And, looking around at midnight,
Supports himself against sunken urns.
And if he looks up to accuse Fate,
When, departing with his days,
The last rays set:
Then permit him to see, at the rim of this earthly dream,
The light of the cloud's hem
From the near-by sun!
You, who so gladly celebrates on sacred nights
And gently and softly veils the grief
That torments a tender soul,
O Hope! Raised through you,
Let the sufferer feel that there above,
An angel counts his tears!
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,2 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet ArchiveFor any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Christoph August Tiedge (1752 - 1841), no title, appears in Urania, in Erster Gesang (Klagen des Zweiflers)
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 143