Liebeslied | Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Liebeslied

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT ENG FRE ITA

Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß
sie nicht an deine rührt? Wie soll ich sie
hinheben über dich zu andern Dingen?
Ach gerne möcht ich sie bei irgendwas
Verlorenem im Dunkel unterbringen
an einer fremden stillen Stelle, die
nicht weiterschwingt, wenn deine Tiefen schwingen.

Doch alles, was uns anrührt, dich und mich,
nimmt uns zusammen wie ein Bogenstrich,
der aus zwei Saiten eine Stimme zieht.
Auf welches Instrument sind wir gespannt?
Und welcher [Geiger]¹ hat uns in der Hand?
O süßes Lied.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Martinsson: "Spieler"

Authorship:

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Liebeslied", appears in Neue Gedichte, first published 1892 [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 Elizabeth R. Austin (b. 1938), "Liebeslied" [ medium voice and piano ], from Drei Rilke-Lieder, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Liebeslied", 2008 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Marius Flothuis (1914 - 2001), "Liebeslied" [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary (Carlisle) Howe (1882 - 1964), "Liebeslied", 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Four Poems By Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Max Kowalski (1882 - 1956), "Liebeslied", 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Marius Felix Lange (b. 1968), "Liebes-Lied", 1999 [ soprano and string sextet ], from 3 Liebeslieder, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dietrich Manicke (b. 1923), "Liebeslied", 1952, from 5 Lieder, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rolf Martinsson (b. 1956), "Liebes-Lied", first performed 2015 [ voice and orchestra ], from Ich denke Dein, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Arturo Milesi , "Liebeslied", published 193-?, from 5 Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Klavierbegleitung, no. 1, Basel : Ernst Vogel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Helmut Paulsen (b. 1909), "Liebeslied", published 1942 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder nach Texten zeitgenössischer Dichter für mittelhohe Stimme, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923), "Liebeslied", op. 39 (1915) [ voice and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928 - 2016), "Liebes-Lied", 1958-9, orchestrated 1964 [ high voice and chamber orchestra or strings or string quintet ], from Die Liebenden, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Siegmund Schmidt (b. 1939), "Liebes-Lied", 2006 [ vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ruth Schonthal (1924 - 2006), "Liebeslied", 1941-1946 [ soprano and piano ], from Acht Lieder, no. 4, Southern Music Company [sung text checked 1 time]
by Siegfried Thiele (b. 1934), "Liebeslied", 1978 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rolf Wallin (b. 1957), "Liebes-Lied", 1994 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Drei Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Henri Zagwijn (1878 - 1954), "Liebeslied", 1948, from Drei Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Margaret Dows Herter Norton Crena de Iongh, née Herter (1894 - 1985) , "Lovesong", appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, first published 1938, copyright © 1966 ; composed by Libby Larsen.
Also set in English, a translation by Dana Gioia (b. 1950) , "The song", appears in The Gods of Winter, first published 1991, copyright © ; composed by Alva Henderson, Lori Laitman, Paul Salerni.
Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Reena Esmail.

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 83