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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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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Das Lied des Trinkers
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  FRE
Es war nicht in mir. Es ging aus und ein.
Da wollt ich es halten. Da hielt es der Wein.
(Ich weiß nicht mehr was es war.)
Dann hielt er mir jenes und hielt mir dies
bis ich mich ganz auf ihn verließ.
Ich Narr.
 
Jetzt bin ich in seinem Spiel und er streut
mich verächtlich herum und verliert mich noch heut
an dieses Vieh, an den Tod.
Wenn der mich, schmutzige Karte, gewinnt,
so kratzt er mit mir seinen grauen Grind
und wirft mich fort in den Kot.

Confirmed with Das Buch der Bilder von Rainer Maria Rilke, Leipzig, Iminsel-Verlag, 1920, page 136.


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Das Lied des Trinkers", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 4, first published 1906 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2012 [ bass or baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Reinhard Bitzinger , "Das Lied des Trinkers", copyright © 2020 [ voice and piano ], Recorded on album: Bunte Grautöne [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Antal Doráti (1906 - 1988), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 1975, orchestrated 1978 [ bass and piano or orchestra ], from Die Stimmen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Karl Heinz Höne (1924 - 2008), "Das Lied des Trinkers" [ 4 soli and piano ], from Die Stimmen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Hans Huyssen (b. 1964), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 1992, first performed 1998 [ baritone and guitar ], from Die Stimmen, no. 3, Unveröffentliches Manuskript [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Michael Tilson Thomas (b. 1944), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2019 [ mezzo-soprano, bass-baritone, and orchestra ], from Meditations on Rilke, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gerhard Wimberger (1923 - 2016), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2012 [ baritone and instrumental ensemble ], from Rilkelieder , no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Albert Ernest Flemming , "Song of the drunkard", appears in Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems, first published 1986, copyright © ; composed by Stephen Paulus.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La chanson de l'ivrogne", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 89

La chanson de l'ivrogne
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Ça n'était pas en moi. Cela entrait et sortait.
Alors je voulus le saisir. Alors le vin le saisit.
(Je ne sais plus ce que c'était.)
Puis pour moi, il saisit ceci et cela
jusqu'à ce que je m'en remette entièrement à lui.
Fou que je suis.

Je suis maintenant dans son jeu et il me jette
çà et là, avec mépris, et encore aujourd'hui il me livre
à cette brute, à la mort.
Quand il gagne sur moi, carte crasseuse,
alors il gratte ses teignes grises avec moi
et puis me jette dans les excréments.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Das Lied des Trinkers", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 4, first published 1906
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-02-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 96

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