Rückleben
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): CAT ENG FRE
An ihrem Grabe kniet' ich festgebunden
Und senkte tief den Geist in's Todtenreich.
Zum Himmel reichte nicht mein Blick, es stunden
Des Wiedersehens Bilder fern und bleich.
Da so ich vorwärts Grauen nur gefunden,
Vergangne Tage, flüchtet' ich zu euch;
Ich ließ den Sarg des Grabes Nacht entheben,
Zurück sie tragen in das schöne Leben.
Schon huben sich die bleichen Augenlider,
Ihr Auge schmachtete zu mir empor;
Bald strebten auf die frischverjüngten Glieder,
Sie schwebte blühend in der Schwestern Chor;
Der Liebe goldne Stunden traten wieder,
Selbst mit des ersten Kusses Lust, hervor:
Bis sich verlor ihr Leben und das meine
In sel'ger Kindheit Duft und Morgenscheine.
Confirmed with
Uhlands Werke, Erster Teil, Gedichte, ed. Adalbert Silbermann, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., [no year], pages 101-102.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vida retrospectiva", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Living in the past", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Retour en arrière", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Alberto Pedrotti , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 107
Living in the past
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
By her grave bound fast, I kneeled
And sank my spirit deep down into the realm of the dead.
To heaven my gaze did not reach,
The images of reunion stood distant and pale.
Since when I looked before me, I only found dread,
I sought refuge in you, bygone days;
I let the coffin be raised from the night of the grave,
I let her be carried back into beautiful life.
Already the pale eyelids lifted,
Her eyes gazed languishingly up to me;
Soon the newly rejuvenated limbs strove upward,
She hovered, blooming, into the choir of her sisters;
The golden hours of love emerged again
Even with the rapture of the first kiss:
Until her life and mine lost themselves
In the blessed scents of childhood and the shining of morning.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 by Sharon Krebs, (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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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 133