Lost in the expanses

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by Ferdinand Avenarius (1856 - 1923)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Verloren im Raume

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Verloren im Raume
Ein erster Vogelruf.

Doch schwer hinschnaubend
Durchs dampfende Marschland
Mit dem Eisen durchwühlts
Der gewaltige Stier.
Und festen Tritts hinter ihm
Schreitet der Mensch,
Die Körner schleudernd,
Wo auseinander
Mit schwarzroten Wellen
Schäumt der Grund.

Regenschwanger
Der Himmel darüber,
Breit, lagernd
In schlafender Kraft.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Webern

A. Webern sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Ferdinand Avenarius, Stimmen und Bilder. Neue Gedichte, Florenz und Leipzig: bei Eugen Diederichs, 1898, page 6.

Text Authorship:

by Ferdinand Avenarius (1856 - 1923), no title, appears in Stimmen und Bilder, in Jahrbuch [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 Arno Rentsch (1870 - 1942), "Vorfrühling", op. 3 no. 1, published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Naturstimmungen. Drei Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Berlin, Deneke [sung text not yet checked]
by Anton von Webern (1883 - 1945), "Vorfrühling II", stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , 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: 2009-09-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 47

Lost in the expanses

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Lost in the expanses --
A first cry of a bird.

But snorting heavily
Through the steaming marshland
The massive steer churns up 
[The marshland] with the steel [of the plow].
And with a firm tread behind him
Strides man,
Hurling the seeds,
There where the soil
Foams apart
With black-red waves.

Pregnant with rain
The sky above,
Broad, encamped
In sleeping power.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of title(s):
"Vorfrühling II" = "Before Spring II"
"Vorfrühling" = "Before Spring"

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 Ferdinand Avenarius (1856 - 1923), no title, appears in Stimmen und Bilder, in Jahrbuch
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-10-22
Line count: 16
Word count: 62