by
Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)
Alone
Language: English
I am alone, in spite of love,
In spite of all I take and give --
In spite of all your tenderness,
Sometimes I am not glad to live.
I am alone, as though I stood
On the highest peak of the tired gray world,
About me only swirling snow,
Above me, endless space unfurled;
With earth hidden and heaven hidden,
And only my own spirit's pride
To keep me from the peace of those
Who are not lonely, having died.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Alone" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dominick DiOrio , "Alone", 2013 [ baritone and piano ], from A Ghost Through the Winding Years, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Scott Gendel (b. 1977), "Alone", 2011 [ voice and piano ], from My Songs Do Not Belong To Me, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bain Murray (b. 1926), "Alone", published 1974 [ soprano and piano ], from Flame and Shadow [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Allein", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-12-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 80
Allein
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Ich bin allein, trotz aller Liebe,
allem, was ich nehm' und gebe -
trotz deiner ganzen Zärtlichkeit
freu ich mich manchmal nicht, zu leben.
Ich bin allein als stünde ich
am höchsten Punkt der müden grauen Welt,
rings um mich nur noch Wirbelschnee
und über mir - endlos das Himmelszelt.
Seh' weder Erd' noch Himmel mehr,
und nur mein eigner stolzer Geist
hält mich noch fern vom Frieden der,
die, nicht mehr einsam, schon vorausgereist.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 73
