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O thou the last fulfilment of life, Death, my death, come and whisper to me! Day after day I have kept watch for thee; for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life. All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy. One final glance from thine eyes and my life will be ever thine own. The flowers have been woven and the garland is ready for the bridegroom. After the wedding the bride shall leave her home and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.
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Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 91, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 91 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Josef Alexander (1907 - 1992), "O thou", 1973 [ soprano, harpsichord, and percussion ], from Gitanjali, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012), "Fourth song", 1985 [ soprano and chamber ensemble ], from Song Offerings, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Death, my death, come and whisper to me", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 6b [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Johannes Teunis Schaddelee.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 91, first published 1914 ; composed by Alfredo Casella, Marcel Landowski.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ; composed by Stefan Wolpe.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 104
O du, des Lebens letzte Stillung, komm, Tod, mein Tod, und flüstere mir zu! Tagaus, tagein schau ich schon aus nach dir; für dich hab ich des Lebens Glück und Schmerz ertragen. All was ich bin, ich hab, ich hoff, all meine Lieb ist dir schon immer zugeströmt, tief und geheimnisvoll. Ein letzter, flücht’ger Blick aus deinen Augen dann wird für immer dein mein Leben sein. Die Blumen sind geflochten, der Kranz dem Bräutigam bereit. Nach der Vermählung wird die Braut ihr Heim verlassen, allein zu treffen ihren Herrn in nächt’ger Einsamkeit.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 91, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 91 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 92