by Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719 - 1803)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Das Leben ist ein Traum
 (Sung text for setting by J. Haydn)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE IRI ITA
Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir schlüpfen in die Welt und schweben
Mit jungen Zahn
Und frischen Gaum,
Auf ihren Wahn
Und ihren Schaum,
Bis wir nicht mehr an Erde kleben;
Und dann, was ist's? Was ist das Leben?
Das Leben ist ein Traum.

Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir lieben, unsre Herzen schlagen,
Und Herz an Herz
Gefüget kaum,
Ist Lieb und Scherz
Ein leerer Schaum,
Ist hin geschwunden, weggetragen;
Was ist das Leben? hör' ich fragen:
Das Leben ist ein Traum.

Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir denken, zweifeln, werden weise;
Wir theilen ein
In Ort und Raum,
In Licht und Schein, 
In Kraut und Baum,
Sind Euler und gewinnen Preise
Dann, noch am Grabe, sagen Weise:
Das Leben ist ein Traum.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La vida és un somni", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het leven is een droom", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Life is a dream", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La vie est un rêve", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , "Is taibhreamh é an saol!", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Solo un sogno è la vita", copyright © 2010, (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: 27
Word count: 134

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Life is a dream!
We slip into the world and float
With drunken senses,
hardly awake
after its confusion
and foam 
until we no longer cleave to the earth.
And then, what is it? What is this life?
Life is a dream.

Life is a dream!
We love, our hearts pound,
and hardly is heart 
joined with heart
than love and jokes
are empty foam
that disappears and is mourned.
What is life? I hear you ask.
Life is a dream.

Life is a dream!
We think, we doubt, we grow wise;
we arrange things 
in our places and spaces,
in light and shine, 
in vegetables and trees;
we are Euler, winning prizes;
then, at the graveside, the wise say:
Life is a dream.

Note for line 3-7: Leonhard Euler was a mathematician who won the Paris Academy Prize Problem competition twelve times.

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 Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 27
Word count: 129