He, the most glorious of all | He, the most glorious of all

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by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838)

Translation © by Daniel Platt

Er, der Herrlichste von allen

(Sung text for setting by R. Schumann)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT CHI DAN DUT ENG ENG ENG FRE HEB ITA NOR RUS

Er, der Herrlichste von allen,
  Wie so milde, wie so gut!
Holde Lippen, klares Auge,
  Heller Sinn und fester Muth.

So wie dort in blauer Tiefe,
  Hell und herrlich, jener Stern,
Also er an meinem Himmel,
  Hell und herrlich, hehr und fern.

Wandle, wandle deine Bahnen;
  Nur betrachten deinen Schein,
Nur in Demuth ihn betrachten,
  Selig nur und traurig sein!

Höre nicht mein stilles Beten,
  Deinem Glücke nur geweiht;
Darfst mich niedre Magd nicht kennen,
  Hoher Stern der Herrlichkeit!

Nur die Würdigste von allen
  Darf beglücken deine Wahl,
Und ich will die Hohe segnen,
  Viele tausend Mal.

Will mich freuen dann und weinen,
  Selig, selig bin ich dann,
Sollte mir das Herz auch brechen,
  Brich, o Herz, was liegt daran.

Note: modernized spelling would change "Muth" to "Mut", and "Demuth" to "Demut"

Composition:

Robert Schumann

Frauenliebe und -Leben

IMSLP

Text Authorship:

by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838), no title, appears in Lieder und lyrisch epische Gedichte, in Frauen-Liebe und Leben, no. 2

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Ell, el més esplèndid de tots", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
CHI Chinese (中文) (Mei Foong Ang) , "他, 是最崇高的", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DAN Danish (Dansk) (Maryanna Morthensen) , "Han, den dejligste af alle", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Daniel Platt) , "He, the most glorious of all", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Shula Keller) , "He, the best of all", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Kyle Gee) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Lui, le plus glorieux de tous", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) (Tsippora Samberg) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Lui, il più splendido di tutti", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
RUS Russian (Русский) (Natalia Vyshynska) , "Он, прекраснейший из всех", copyright © 2013, (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: 24
Word count: 125

He, the most glorious of all

(Sung text translation for setting by R. Schumann)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

He, the most glorious of all, 
O how mild, so good! 
lovely lips, clear eyes, 
bright mind and steadfast courage. 

Just as yonder in the blue depths, 
bright and glorious, that star, 
so he is in my heavens, 
bright and glorious, lofty and distant.

Meander, meander thy paths, 
but to observe thy gleam, 
but to observe in meekness, 
but to be blissful and sad! 

Hear not my silent prayer, 
consecrated only to thy happiness, 
thou mays't not know me, lowly maid, 
lofty star of glory! 

Only the worthiest of all 
may make happy thy choice, 
and I will bless her, the lofty one, 
many thousand times. 

I will rejoice then and weep, 
blissful, blissful I'll be then; 
if my heart should also break, 
break, O heart, what of it?

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Daniel Platt, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.
Daniel Platt. Contact: abelard2 (AT) aol (DOT) com

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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838), no title, appears in Lieder und lyrisch epische Gedichte, in Frauen-Liebe und Leben, no. 2
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 129