Das ist das Glück: am Feierabend müd
Im Bänklein sitzen und ins Weite lauschen,
Wo am Gebirg der Abendglast verglüht
Und ferne [Wälder]1 ihren Frieden rauschen.

Hinträumend wandelt in die alten Zeit
Und scheu dein stillgewordner Wunsch zurück
Zu lang verglühten Träumen, Wonnen, Leiden
Und Jugendhoffnungen ...... Das war das Glück.

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.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Unterwegs. Gedichte von Hermann Hesse, München: Georg Müller Verlag, 1911, page 42.

¹ "Ströme" in a later publication (Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 159)

Text Authorship:

• by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Feierabend", 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 Heinrich Pestalozzi (1878 - 1940), "Feierabend", op. 42 no. 1 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], from Vier gemischte Chöre a cappella, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Reuss (1871 - 1935), "Feierabend", op. 36 (Acht Lieder) no. 7, published <<1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Immo Schneider (b. 1935), "Feierabend", 1980? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Fi del treball", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "In the evening after work", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Fin de journée", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

That is happiness: weary after a day of work
To sit on a little bench and listen into the distance,
To where the evening glow is extinguished upon the mountains
And distant [forests sough]1 their peace.

Dreaming and shy, your now-silent wish wanders
Into the olden times and back 
To long extinguished dreams, joys, sorrows
And hopes of youth ...... That was happiness.