by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
Translation by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846)
A spirit pass'd before me
Language: English after the Latin
A spirit pass'd before me: I beheld The face of immortality unveil'd -- Deep sleep came down on every eye save mine -- And there it stood, -- all formless -- but divine; Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake; And as my damp hair stiffen'd, thus it spake: 'Is man more just that God? Is man more pure Than he who deems even Seraphs insecure? Creatures of clay -- vain dwellers in the dust! The moth survives you, and are ye more just? Things of day! you wither ere the night, Heedless and blind to Wisdom's wasted light!'
Text Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "A spirit pass'd before me", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 28, first published 1815 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , Job 4
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Un esprit a passé devant moi", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 28
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 95
Eliphas' Gesicht See original
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
An mir vorüber ging ein Geist; das Bild Der Ewigkeit erschien mir unverhüllt. Schlaf fiel auf jedes Aug, nur meines nicht; Und formlos stand, doch göttlich das Gesicht. Das Haar auf meinem Haupte stieg empor, Mein Fleisch erbebte; und so klangs dem Ohr: Wie mag der Mensch gerechter sein denn Gott, Denn Er, deß Tadel selbst dem Seraph droht? Was bist du mehr, Geschlecht aus Ton und Staub, Als jener Wurm, dem du einst wirst zum Raub? Du währst vom Morgen bis der Abend graut; Du stirbst -- und hast die Wahrheit nicht geschaut.
Composition:
- Set to music by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Eliphas' Gesicht", op. 14 (Hebräische Gesänge) no. 2 (1826), published 1827
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846), "Eliphas Gesicht, aus dem Hiob", appears in Hebräische Gesänge, first published 1820
Based on:
- a text in English by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "A spirit pass'd before me", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 28, first published 1815 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , Job 4
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 95