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Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh, wie dies stirbt, so stirbt er auch; und haben alle einerlei Odem; und der Mensch hat nichts mehr denn das Vieh: denn es ist alles eitel. Es fährt alles an einen Ort; es ist alles von Staub gemacht, und wird wieder zu Staub. Wer weiss, ob der Geist des Menschen aufwärts fahre, und der Odem des Viehes unterwärts unter die Erde fahre? Darum sahe ich, daß nichts bessers ist, denn dass der Mensch fröhlich sei in seiner Arbeit, denn das ist sein Teil. Denn wer will ihn dahin bringen, dass er sehe, was nach ihm geschehen wird?
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Holy Bible: German Luther Translation, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, The Unbound Bible project, 2002. Note: the spelling has been modernized.
Note: There is a typo in Brahms's score in stanza 3, line 2, word 2. The score incorrectly has "das" here.
Text Authorship:
- by Bible or other Sacred Texts , no title, Ecclesiastes 3:19-22 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , from Ecclesiastes 3:19-22
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh", op. 121 no. 1 (1896), published 1896 [ baritone and piano ], from Vier ernste Gesänge, no. 1, Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Paul England)
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) [singable] (Frieda Boutarel) (Amédée Boutarel)
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) [singable] (Hamutal Atariah) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Susana Martin Dudoignon) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-12
Line count: 17
Word count: 105
[I thought to myself:] "As it goes with Man, so it goes with animals, as one dies, so the other as well; and they all breathe the same air; therefore Man has nothing over the animals: it's vain to think otherwise. [We] all end up in the same place; [we] are all made from dust, and will return to dust. Who knows whether the human spirit may ascend, while animal spirits merely descend into the earth?" Therefore, I understood that nothing could be better than for a Man to be satisfied with his work, because that is his lot in life. For who could prepare him to see what the future has in store for him?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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 Bible or other Sacred Texts , no title, Ecclesiastes 3:19-22 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , from Ecclesiastes 3:19-22
This text was added to the website: 2023-08-17
Line count: 17
Word count: 116