My heart is as vast as a lake

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by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG FRE IRI NOR

Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit,
Drin lacht dein [Antlitz]¹ sonnenlicht
In tiefer süßer Einsamkeit,
Wo leise Well' an Well' sich bricht.

Ist's Nacht, ist's Tag? Ich weiß es nicht,
Lacht doch auf mich so lieb und lind
Dein [sonnenlichtes]² [Angesicht]³
Und selig bin ich wie ein Kind.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Orff • K. Thomas

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte und Sprüche von Friedrich Nietzsche,Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von C.G. Naumann, 1901, page 23.

¹ Orff: "Auge"
² Thomas: "sonnenhelles"
³ Orff: "Augenlicht"

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), appears in Lieder, no. 1 [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 Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit", 1919 [ high voice and piano ], from Zwei Lieder für hohe Stimme, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Kurt Thomas (1904 - 1973), "Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit", op. 9 no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anton von Webern (1883 - 1945), "Heiter", 1901-4, from Acht frühe Lieder, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El meu cor és tan gran com un llac", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Bonheur", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Munter", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 53

My heart is as vast as a lake

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

My heart is as vast as a lake,
within it laughs your sunlit [face]¹
in deep, sweet solitude,
where quiet wave breaks upon wave.

Is it night, is it day?  I do not know.
[Your sunlit face]² laughs down at me,
so dearly and so gently.
and I am as contented as a child.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translated titles:
"Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit" = "My heart is as vast as a lake"
"Heiter" = "Merry"

¹ Orff: "eye"
² Orff: "The sunlit light of your eyes"; Thomas: "Your sun-bright face"

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 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), appears in Lieder, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 56