Hope | What more do you hope for yourself, maiden?!

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by Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Was erhoffst Du Dir, Mädchen, noch?!

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE NOR

Was erhoffst Du Dir, Mädchen, noch?!
Da Du, geschlossene Blüte, alles Lebendige in Dir birgst?!
Bleibe verschlossenes Blüh’n, o Mädchen -- --
Denn die „gewöhnliche That“ des Seins
mordet dein „göttliches Ungeschehnis“!“

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Berg

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with „Ein Wiener“ in Was der Tag mir zuträgt. Fünfundsechzig neue Studien von Peter Altenberg, dritte vermehrte und veränderte Auflage, Berlin: S. Fischer, Verlag, 1906, page 294.

Note: [sic] for the last word.

Text Authorship:

by Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg, no title [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 Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Hoffnung", 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 55 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Hope", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Espoir", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Håp", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Virginia Knight , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 5
Word count: 30

Hope

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

What more do you hope for yourself, maiden?!
When you, closed blossom, harbour every living thing within yourself?!
Remain a closed blossoming, oh maiden -- --
For the “ordinary act” of being
Would murder your “divine state of nothing-happening!”

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 Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg, no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-12-10
Line count: 5
Word count: 37