Wie dies Gewürm aus unermess'nem Meer,
Taucht auch der Mensch aus deinem dunklen Schooß,
Unendlichkeit, und ahnet nicht, woher! --
So klimmt er [auch]1 auf seinen Erdenkloß,
Von Thränen feucht, und tastet um sich her,
Ob er ergreif' ein wenig Gras und Moos
Für seinen Mund, und er ergreift's so schwer! --
Der arme Mensch, wie trüb' ist doch sein Loos!
Er ahnet nichts und mühet sich so sehr,
Da kommt die Flut, da wird die Welle groß,
Und er versinket wiederum ins Meer! -- --

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes
Confirmed with Gedichte von Wilhelm Meinhold, Zweiter Band, Vermischte Gedichte. Dritte verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage, Leipzig, Verlag von J. J. Weber, 1846, p. 25

Modernized spellings (used by Hindemith): Schooß -> Schoß ; Thränen -> Tränen; Loos -> Los
¹ Hindemith: "denn"

Text Authorship:

• by J. Wilhelm Meinhold (1797 - 1851), "Der Wurm am Meere" [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), "Der Wurm am Meer", op. 35, Heft 2 no. 6 (1924) [ soprano, oboe, viola, and cello ], from Die Serenaden, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The sea-serpent", copyright © 2015
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le ver à la mer", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Martin Jahn

This text was added to the website: 2008-11-26
Line count: 11
Word count: 83

As does this sea-serpent from the unmeasurable sea,
So does Man dive from Thy dark womb,
Infinity, and cannot guess his origin.
He clings then to his patch of earth,
Damp with tears, and gropes about
To seize a little grass or moss 
for his mouth, and he does so with much difficulty!
Wretched Man, how dreary indeed is his lot! 
He does not guess it, and works so hard.
Then comes the flood; the wave becomes massive
And he sinks again into the sea.