Wandern ohne Ziel ist Jugendlust,
Mit der Jugend ist sie mir erblichen;
Seither bin ich nur vom Ort gewichen,
War ein Ziel und Wille mir bewußt.
Doch dem Blick, der nur das Ziel erfliegt,
Bleibt des Wanderns Süße ungenossen,
Wald und Strom und aller Glanz verschlossen,
Der an allen Wegen wartend liegt.
Weiter muß ich nun das Wandern lernen,
Daß des Augenblicks unschuldiger Schein
Nicht erblasse vor ersehnten Sternen.
Das ist Reisekunst: im Weltenreihn
Mitzufliehn und nach geliebten Fernen
Auch im Rasten unterwegs zu sein.
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Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 198-199.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The art of travel", copyright © 2019, (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: 2009-05-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 85
To wander without a goal is the joy of youth,
Along with youth, it has paled for me;
Since then I have only left this place
When I was aware of a goal and a desire.
But to the gaze that only looks toward the goal
The sweetness of wandering remains untasted,
Shuttered is forest and river and all the radiance
That lies waiting beside all paths.
I must now continue to learn to wander
So that the innocent gleam of the moment
May not pale before longed-for stars.
That is the art of travel: to flee along
In the ranks of the world and to be underway
Toward beloved distances even when at rest.