by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)
Translation © by John Glenn Paton

[No title]
 (Sung text for setting by F. Cerha)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG ENG ITA
 ... 

Doch uns ist gegeben,
  Auf keiner Stätte zu ruh'n;
    Es schwinden, es fallen
      Die leidenden Menschen
        Blindlings von einer
          Stunde zu andern,
            Wie Wasser von Klippe
              Zu Klippe geworfen,
                Jahrlang in's Ungewisse hinab.

Note: the text above is taken from stanza 3 of the original text.

Note: Hyperion is the title character of an unfinished novel in which Hölderlin wrote about the Greek struggle for independence from the Turks.

Composition:

Text Authorship:

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó del destí", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Hyperions noodlotslied", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright © 1995
  • ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Hyperion's Song of Fate", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Canto del destino di Iperione", 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: 24
Word count: 83

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
 ... 

But it is our fate
to have no rest anywhere.
Vanishing, falling,
suffering human beings
go blindly from one
hour to the next
like water from cliff
to cliff, thrown
downward for years long into Uncertainty.

Note: the text above is taken from stanza 3 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2004 by John Glenn Paton, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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This text was added to the website: 2004-05-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 92