Über dem See und hinter den rosigen Bergen
Liegt Italien meiner Jugend gelobtes Land,
Meiner Träume vertraute Heimat.
Rote Bäume sprechen vom Herbst.
Und im beginnenden Herbst
Meines Lebens sitz' ich allein,
Schaue der Welt ins schöne grausame Auge,
Wähle Farben der Liebe und male sie,
Die so oft mich betrog,
Die ich immer und immer noch liebe.
Liebe und Einsamkeit,
Liebe und unerfüllbare Sehnsucht
Sind die Mütter der Kunst;
Noch im Herbst meines Lebens
Führen sie mich an der Hand,
Und ihr sehnliches Lied
Zaubert Glanz über See und Gebirg
Und die abschiednehmende, schöne Welt.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 269.

Text Authorship:

• by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Blick nach Italien", written 1920, appears in Gedichte des Malers, no. 8 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Erich Petzold , "Blick nach Italien" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Anton Würz (1903 - 1995), "Blick nach Italien", op. 36 no. 6 (1948) [ baritone and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Bariton nach Gedichten von Hermann Hesse, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vista d'Itàlia", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "View toward Italy", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Regard vers l'Italie", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-21
Line count: 18
Word count: 96

Over the lake and beyond the rosy mountains
Lies Italy, the promised land of my youth,
The familiar homeland of my dreams.
Red trees speak of autumn.
And in the coming of the autumn
Of my life I sit alone,
Gaze into the beautiful, cruel eye of the world,
Choose colours of love and paint her
Who so often betrayed me,
Whom I ever and ever still love.
Love and solitude,
Love and longing that can never be stilled
Are the mothers of art;
Even in the autumn of my life
They lead me by the hand,
And their yearning song
Magically lays radiance upon lake and mountains
And [upon] the beautiful world that takes its farewell.