Mountains in the night | The lake has been extinguished

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Berge in der Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Der See ist erloschen,
Schwarz schläft das Ried,
Im Traume flüsternd.
Ungeheuer ins Land gedehnt
Drohen die hingestreckten Berge.
Sie ruhen nicht.
Sie atmen tief, und sie halten
Einer den andern an sich gedrückt.
Tief atmend,
Mit dumpfen Kräften beladen,
Unerlöst in verzehrender Leidenschaft.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 165.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Berge in der Nacht", written 1905, appears in Unterwegs, first published 1911 [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 Hermann Grabner (1886 - 1969), "Berge in der Nacht", 1950/1 [ voice and piano ], from Acht Hermann Hesse-Lieder, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Muntanyes a la nit", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Mountains in the night", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Montagne dans la nuit", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-06
Line count: 11
Word count: 44

Mountains in the night

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The lake has been extinguished,
The reeds sleep in blackness,
Whispering in a dream.
Stretching out hugely into the land,
The splaying mountains threaten.
They do not rest.
They breathe deeply, and they hold
One another closely and tightly.
Breathing deeply,
Weighed down with leaden powers,
Unredeemed in consuming passion.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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 Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Berge in der Nacht", written 1905, appears in Unterwegs, first published 1911
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-02-24
Line count: 11
Word count: 50