Remorseless people | How cruel is your gaze

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Harte Menschen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Wie ist euer Blick so hart,
Will alles versteinen,
Ist nicht der kleinste Traum darin,
Ist alles kalte Gegenwart.

Mag denn in eurem Sinn
Gar keine Sonne scheinen?
Und müsset ihr nicht weinen,
Daß ihr nie Kinder wart?

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 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 217.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Harte Menschen", written 1912 [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 Horst Joachim Japtok , "Harte Menschen" [ voice and piano ], from Drei Gedichte von Hermann Hesse, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hans Kracke (1910 - 1989), "Harte Menschen", 1943 [ low male voice and piano ], from Musik des Einsamen, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Peter Voelkner , "Harte Menschen", op. 27 no. 3, first performed 1932 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Homes cruels", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Remorseless people", 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: 2009-05-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 38

Remorseless people

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

How cruel is your gaze,
[How it] wishes to turn everything to stone,
There is not the smallest dream therein,
Everything is cold present.

May absolutely no sun
Shine within your spirit?
And must you not weep [over the fact]
That you were never children?

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), "Harte Menschen", written 1912
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-06-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 45