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Ob ein Gott sei? Ob er einst erfülle, Was die Sehnsucht weinend sich verspricht? Ob, vor irgendeinem Weltgericht, Sich dies rätselhafte Sein enthülle? Hoffen soll der Mensch! Er frage nicht! Die du so gern in [heil'gen]1 Nächten feierst Und sanft und weich den Gram verschleierst, Der eine zarte Seele quält, O Hoffnung! Laß, durch dich empor gehoben, Den Dulder ahnen, daß dort oben Ein Engel seine Tränen zählt! Wenn, längst verhallt, geliebte Stimmen schweigen; Wenn unter ausgestorb'nen Zweigen Verödet die Erinn'rung sitzt: Dann nahe dich, wo dein Verlaßner trauert Und, von der Mitternacht umschauert, Sich auf versunk'ne Urnen stützt. Und blickt er auf, das Schicksal anzuklagen, Wenn scheidend über seinen Tagen Die letzten Strahlen untergehn: [Dann]2 laß' ihn um den Rand des Erdentraumes Das Leuchten eines Wolkensaumes Von einer nahen Sonne seh'n!
L. Beethoven sets stanzas 2-4 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
L. Beethoven sets stanzas 1-4, 2 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Himmel sets stanzas 2-4
J. Knecht sets stanzas 2-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Knecht: "stillen"
2 Knecht: "So"
Text Authorship:
- by Christoph August Tiedge (1752 - 1841), no title, appears in Urania, in Erster Gesang (Klagen des Zweiflers) [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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "An die Hoffnung", op. 32, stanzas 2-4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "An die Hoffnung", op. 94 (1813), stanzas 1-4,2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765 - 1814), "An die Hoffnung", 1814, published 1880, stanzas 2-4, from Gesänge aus Tiedge's Urania, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Justin Heinrich Knecht (1752 - 1817), "An die Hoffnung", stanzas 2-4 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Drei Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder der Guitarre, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan de hoop", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To Hope", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À l'espérance", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 132
Is there a God? Will he someday fulfill The promises for which longing cries out? Will, before the court of the world, This puzzle ever reveal itself? Man must hope. He does not ask! You, who so gladly celebrates on sacred nights And gently and softly veils the grief That torments a tender soul, O Hope! Raised through you, Let the sufferer feel that there above, An angel counts his tears! When, long hushed, beloved voices are silenced, When, underneath dead branches Memory sits desolate, Then come closer to where your forsaken one mourns And, looking around at midnight, Supports himself against sunken urns. And if he looks up to accuse Fate, When, departing with his days, The last rays set: Then permit him to see, at the rim of this earthly dream, The light of the cloud's hem From the near-by sun!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet ArchiveFor any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Christoph August Tiedge (1752 - 1841), no title, appears in Urania, in Erster Gesang (Klagen des Zweiflers)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 143