Da die Heimat, -- o Vater, -- da Gott
Von der Tochter verlanget den Tod,
Dein Gelübde vom Feind uns befreit,
Durchbohr' mich, ich stehe bereit!
Und die Stimme der Klagen ist stumm,
Und mein Werk auf den Bergen ist um;
Wird die Hand, die ich liebe, mich weih'n,
Kann der Tod ja nicht schmerzlich mir seyn!
Und das schwör' ich dir treulich und gut,
Daß so rein ist mein kindliches Blut,
Als der Segen, den strömend es fleht,
Als hienieden mein letztes Gebet.
Ob die Jungfrau Jerusalems klagt,
Sey der Richter, der Held nicht verzagt;
Der Triumph kam durch mich euch herbey,
Und mein Vater, die Heimath sind frey!
Wenn das Blut, das du gabst, ist entwallt,
Die du liebtest, die Stimme, verhallt,
Denk' meiner, die Ruhm dir erwarb,
Und vergiß nicht, daß lächelnd ich starb!
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Text Authorship:
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See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Jephta's dochter", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Jephta's daughter", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Alberto Pedrotti , Margo Briessinck , Sharon Krebs
[Senior Associate Editor]This text was added to the website: 2003-11-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 140
Since our homeland, -- oh father, -- since God
Demands death of your daughter,
And the voice of lamentation is mute,
And my work upon the mountains is done;
If the hand that I love consecrates me,
Then death cannot be painful to me!
And I swear to you faithfully and well,
That my childish blood is as pure
As the blessing for which it pleads as it streams forth,
As my last prayer here on earth.
Though the virgin of Jerusalem laments,
The judge, the hero should not be cast down;
Through me the triumph came to you,
And my father, my homeland are free!
When the blood that you gave has surged out,
When the voice that you loved has died away,
Think of me, who secured honour for you,
And do not forget that I died smiling!
