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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Annette Elisabeth, Freiin von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1848)
Translation © by Jane K. Brown

Am sechsten Sonntage nach Pfingsten
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
Die ganze Nacht hab' ich gefischt
Nach einer Perl' in meines Herzens Grund
Und nichts gefangen.
Wer hat mein Wesen so gemischt,
Daß Will'gen Wille steht zu aller Stund'
In meiner Brust wie Tauben gegen Schlangen?

Daß ich dir folgen möchte, ach,
Es ist doch wahr, ich darf es sonder Trug
Mir selber sagen.
Was schleicht mir denn gespenstig nach
Und hält wie an den Fittigen den Flug,
Der, ach, zu dir, zu dir mich sollte tragen?

Herr, geh' von mir, ich bin ein arm
Und gar zu sündig Wesen; laß mich los,
Ach laß mich liegen!
Weiß ich, wovon mein Busen warm?
Ob Sehnens Glut, ob nicht die Drangsal bloß
So heiß und zitternd läßt die Pulse fliegen?

Wenn sich die Sünde selber schlägt,
Wenn aus der Not nach Rettung Sehnen keimt,
Ist das die Reue?
Hast du den Richter doch gelegt
In unser Blut, das gen die Sünde schäumt,
Daß es vom wüsten Schlamme sich befreie.

Dies Winden, Jedem zuerkannt,
Wo irgend noch ein Lebensodem steigt,
Wird es mir frommen?
Ja als verlöscht der Sonne Brand,
Da hat Ägypten sich vor dir gebeugt,
Und seine Sünde ward ihm nicht genommen.

Und hast Gewissens Stachel du
Mir auch vielleicht geschärft als Andern mehr:
Ich werd' es büßen,
Dringt nicht der rechte Stich hinzu,
Der Freiheit gibt dem warmen, reinen Meer,
Daraus die echten Reuetränen fließen.

O eine echte Perle nur
Aus meiner Augen übersteintem Quell,
Sie wär' ein Segen!
Du Meister jeglicher Natur,
Brich ein; du Retter lös die Ströme hell!
Ach, kann ja ohne dich mich nimmer regen.

Du, der gesprochen: "Fürcht' dich nicht!"
So laß mich denn vertraun auf deine Hand
Und nicht ermüden.
Ja, auf dein Wort, mein Hoffnungslicht,
Will werfen ich das Netz; ach, steigt ans Land
Die Perle endlich dann und bringt mir Frieden?

Text Authorship:

  • by Annette Elisabeth, Freiin von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1848), "Am sechsten Sonntage nach Pfingsten", subtitle: "Evang.: Vom Fischfang Petri", written 1839, appears in Das Geistliche Jahr [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 Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "Am sechsten Sonntage nach Pfingsten", op. 89 no. 1 (2013) [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor, hammered dulcimer, trombone, marimba, and harp ], from Perlenfischer. Geistliche Liederfolge, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Jane K. Brown) , "On the sixth Sunday after Whitsun", subtitle: "Peter's Draft of Fishes", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Jane K. Brown

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-28
Line count: 48
Word count: 300

On the sixth Sunday after Whitsun
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
All night long I've been fishing
For a pearl in the depths of my heart
And caught nothing.
Who has made my being such a mix,
That willing always opposes will
Within my breast like doves against serpents?

That I would follow after Thee, ah,
Is certainly true, I can say it without lying
To myself.
Yet what creeps eerily after me
And holds my wings from the flight
That should, alas, carry me to Thee, to Thee?

Lord, abandon me, I am a poor
And much too sinful being; let go of me,
Ah, leave me prostrate.
Do I know what warms my bosom?
Does the fire of yearning, or just distress
Make my pulse race so fast and uneven?

When sin smites itself,
When longing for salvation sprouts from affliction,
Is that repentance?
Thou hast placed the judge
In our very blood that seethes against sin,
To free it from its barren mire.

This struggle, allotted to each
Where the least breath of life yet rises,
Will it help me?
After all, when the sun's fire went out,
Egypt bowed low before Thee,
And its sin was not lifted from it.

And even if Thou hast given to me
Perhaps sharper pangs of conscience than to others:
I will atone for it,
If the right pang does not penetrate,
The one that releases the warm, pure sea
Whence flow genuine tears of penitence.

O but a single genuine pearl
From the barricaded fountain of my eyes,
It would be a blessing!
Thou master of every nature,
Break in; Thou savior, free the bright streams.
Alas, I cannot move without Thee.

Thou who hast said, "Fear not!"
So let me trust to Thine arm
And never tire.
Yes, for Thy word, my light of hope,
I shall cast my net; ah, will the pearl then
Finally come to land and bring me peace?

Subtitle: "Peter's Draft of Fishes"

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 by Jane K. Brown, (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 Annette Elisabeth, Freiin von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1848), "Am sechsten Sonntage nach Pfingsten", subtitle: "Evang.: Vom Fischfang Petri", written 1839, appears in Das Geistliche Jahr
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-28
Line count: 48
Word count: 314

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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