Waiting in humility | Do you know, where the myriad are

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by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Erwarten in Demut

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Wißt ihr, wo sind die Myriaden,
Die waren seit die Erde steht?
Hat sie ein Gott zu sich geladen?
Hat eine Windsbraut sie verweht?

Ich kann nicht fordern noch ein Leben,
Ein Paradies noch nach dem Tod. 
Was hab ich dieser Welt gegeben?
Nichts, gegen das, was sie mir bot.

Ich kann nur stehn in stummer Wehmut,
Und, wenn mein Geist vom Leib sich trennt,
Erwarten nur in tiefer Demut,
Ob Gott ihn noch als Geist erkennt.

Text Authorship:

by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Erwarten in Demut" [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by Zoltán Gárdonyi (1906 - 1986), "Erwarten in Demut", 1979, unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
by Christian Immo Schneider (b. 1935), "Erwarten in Demut", 1984, unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Waiting in humility", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 77

Waiting in humility

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Do you know, where the myriad are,
Who have existed since the world began?
Has a god invited them unto himself?
Has a whirlwind blown them away?

I cannot demand another life,
A paradise even after death.
What have I given to this world?
Nothing in comparison to what it offered me.

I can only stand in mute melancholy,
And, when my spirit parts from my body,
Await in deep humility,
Whether or not God still recognizes it as a spirit.

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 Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Erwarten in Demut"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-12-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 81