Words | And there exist words, which wander

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by Benno Geiger (1882 - 1965)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Worte

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Und Worte gibt es, welche wandern
und wachsen und voll Innigkeit
von einem Menschen zu dem andern
hinüber gehn wie Ströme breit.

Sie plätschern über dem Verlangen,
das einstmals in den Seelen gor:
was kommen mag, ist längst vergangen,
und das Vergangne steht bevor.

Vom Wind getragen hin und wieder
ein feuchtes Licht, ein helles Schwanken,
bis an die Seele steigt es kühl.

Die Ströme gehn im Meere nieder,
und das Gefühl wird zum Gedanken
und der Gedanke zum Gefühl!

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Text Authorship:

by Benno Geiger (1882 - 1965) [author's text not yet checked 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 Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Worte", 1907, published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from 24 Präludien für Singstimme und Klavier, no. 9, Leipzig: C.F. Kahnt Nachfolger [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Words", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 80

Words

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

And there exist words, which wander
And grow and, full of ardency,
Travel over to one person from another
Like wide rivers.
 
They babble above the longing
That once seethed in the souls:
Whatever may come has long passed away,
And the past is before us.
 
Carried back and forth by the wind
A dewy light, a bright swaying,
All the way to the soul it rises coolly.
 
The rivers flow downward to the sea,
And feeling becomes thought
And thought becomes feeling!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 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 Benno Geiger (1882 - 1965)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-10-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 83