Surrender | You dark one, primeval mother of all joy

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Hingabe

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Dunkle du, Urmutter aller Lust,
Die ich floh, die ich so oft verflucht,
Die mich dennoch immer hat gesucht,
Endlich werf ich mich an deine Brust!

Nimm mich hin, furchtbare Mutter Nacht,
Todeswollust ists, dich zu umarmen,
Heimlich aus dem heißen Abgrund lacht
Ahnung von Erlösung, von Erbarmen.
Tief in deinen schwarzen Augen brennt
Deiner düstern Liebe Glut so wehe,
Deiner Liebe, die mich ganz erkennt,
Deren Todesruf ich ganz verstehe.
Willig folg ich dir durch Blut und Angst,
Fühle, wie du mich zurückverlangst,
Um noch einmal mich dein Kind zu nennen,
Um in einem Kuß mich zu verbrennen.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, 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 4 Der Steppenwolf. Narziß und Goldmund. Die Morgenlandfahrt, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2001, page 211.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Hingabe", appears in Krisis. Ein Stück Tagebuch., no. 1, first published 1926 [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 Stefan Lindblad , "Hingabe", <<1983 [ baritone and organ ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gerhard Schumann (b. 1914), "Hingabe", 1955 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], from Lieder der Liebe, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Lliurament", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Surrender", copyright © 2018, (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: 2009-05-22
Line count: 16
Word count: 99

Surrender

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

You dark one, primeval mother of all joy,
From whom I fled, whom I have so often cursed,
Who nevertheless always searched for me,
Finally I throw myself upon your breast!

Accept me, dreadful Mother Night,
To embrace you is death-lust,
From out of the torrid abyss secretly smiles 
The prescience of salvation, of mercy.
Deep within your dark eyes burns
The flame of your love so painfully,
Your love that knows me utterly,
Whose call to death I comprehend completely.
Willingly I follow you through blood and fear,
I feel how you yearn to have me back
In order to call me your child once more,
To consume me fierily in a single kiss.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 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), "Hingabe", appears in Krisis. Ein Stück Tagebuch., no. 1, first published 1926
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-04-20
Line count: 16
Word count: 115