O Melodie des Saftes und der Lebenskraft

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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Ô mélodie de la sève

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Ô mélodie de la sève
qui dans les instruments 
de tous ces arbres s'élève -,
accompagne le chant 
de notre voix trop brève.

C'est pendant quelques mesures 
seulement que nous suivons 
les multiples figures 
de ton long abandon, 
ô abondante nature.

Quand il faudra nous taire, 
d'autres continueront...
Mais à présent comment faire 
pour te rendre mon 
grand cœur complémentaire ?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 44. Printemps, no. 1 [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 Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Printemps", 1939 [ mixed chorus ], from Six Chansons, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Damien Luy (b. 1980), "Mélodie de la sève", copyright © 2008 [ mixed chorus ], from Plumes Valaisannes, no. 5, Saint-Maurice : Fédération des sociétés de chant du Valais : Editions Labatiaz [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (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: 15
Word count: 60

O Melodie des Saftes und der Lebenskraft

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

O Melodie des Saftes und der Lebenskraft, 
die aufklingt 
in all dieser Bäume Instrumente,
- begleite du den Sang
unsrer zu matten Stimme.

Ein paar Takte 
nur folgen wir 
den mannigfachen Formen
deines lang währenden Hingebens,
o üppige Natur.

Wenn wir verstummen müssen,
fahren and're fort...
Doch wie stelle ich's jetzt an,
dir mein großes Herz hierfür
zu schenken?

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Printemps" = "Frühling"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 44. Printemps, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 58