by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985)
Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß
Language: German (Deutsch)
Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß sie nicht an deine rührt? Wie soll ich sie hinheben über dich zu andern Dingen? Ach gerne möcht ich sie bei irgendwas Verlorenem im Dunkel unterbringen an einer fremden stillen Stelle, die nicht weiterschwingt, wenn deine Tiefen schwingen. Doch alles, was uns anrührt, dich und mich, nimmt uns zusammen wie ein Bogenstrich, der aus zwei Saiten eine Stimme zieht. Auf welches Instrument sind wir gespannt? Und welcher [Geiger]1 hat uns in der Hand? O süßes Lied.
W. Hiller sets stanza 2
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Martinsson: "Spieler"
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Liebeslied", appears in Neue Gedichte, first published 1892
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó d'amor", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Ruth Schonthal) , "Love song", copyright ©
- ENG English (Elisabeth Siekhaus) , "Love song", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Chant d'amour", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Canto d'amore", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 84
Liebeslied See original
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
How shall I withhold my soul so that [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Composition:
- Set to music by Libby Larsen (b. 1950), "Liebeslied", first performed 1994 [ voice, violoncello, and piano ], from Belovèd, thou hast brought me many flowers, no. 2
Text Authorship:
- by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985), "Lovesong", appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, first published 1938, copyright © 1966
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Liebeslied", appears in Neue Gedichte, first published 1892
See other settings of this text.
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-13
Line count: 13
Word count: 96