Who would demand of the world | Who would demand of the world

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wer wird von der Welt verlangen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Wer wird von der Welt verlangen,
Was sie selbst vermißt und träumet,
Rückwarts oder seitwarts blickend
Stets den Tag des Tags versäumet?
Ihr Bemühn, ihr guter Wille
Hinkt nur nach dem raschen Leben,
Und was du vor Jahren brauchtest,
Möchte sie dir heute geben.

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Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1814, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 5. Buch des Unmuts -- Rendsch Nameh [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Wer wird von der Welt verlangen", op. 67 (Sechs Lieder), Heft 2 no. 1 (1918) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Qui demanarà al món", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Who would demand of the world", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Celle qui demandera au monde", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 44

Who would demand of the world

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Who would demand of the world
That which it lacks itself and of which it dreams,
Gazing backwards or sideways
Always missing out on the day of the day?
Its endeavours, its good will
Only limps in the wake of rapid life,
And that which you needed years ago
It would like to give you today.

Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1814, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 5. Buch des Unmuts -- Rendsch Nameh
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-09-18
Line count: 8
Word count: 56