by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Mathias Rüegg (b. 1952)
Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen
Language: German (Deutsch)
Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen, dann wird es werden wie ein Fest. Und laß dir jeden Tag geschehen so wie ein Kind im Weitergehen von jedem Wehen sich viele Blüten schenken läßt. Sie aufzusammeln und zu sparen, das kommt dem Kind nicht in den Sinn. Es löst sie leise aus den Haaren, drin sie so gern gefangen waren, und hält den lieben jungen Jahren nach neuen seine Hände hin.
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Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title [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 Eduard Bornschein (1883 - 1945), "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen", 1926 [ voice and piano ], from 10 Gesänge nach Gedichten von R. M. Rilke, no. 3, Mainz : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sara Decker (b. 1985), "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen" [ voice and jazz ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul van Gulick , "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andrew Hudson , "Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen", from Drei Gedichten von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wolfgang Lackerschmid (b. 1956), "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen" [ voice and vibraphone ], from Neue jazzorientierte Lieder. Nach Texten von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Birgitta Lutz , "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen", published 2003 [ voice and piano ], from Acht Vertonungen nach Gedichten von R.M. Rilke, no. 5, Verlag Joachim Schmitz [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Julius Marx (1897 - 1985), "Du musst dies Leben nicht verstehen", op. 8 no. 2, copyright © 1952 [ mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra ], from Rilke-Kreis, no. 2, Kassel : Bärenreiter-Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Barend Roest Crollius (1912 - 2000), "Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen", published 1948? [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Zes liederen, no. 6, 's-Gravenhage : Albersen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reinhold Ruiss , "Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen" [ tenor and piano ], from Rilke Lieder, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Tristan Schulze , "Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen", 2015 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oliver Steller (b. 1967), "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen", 2006 [ narrator, saxophone and double bass ], from Zwischen den Sternen. Gedichte. Briefe. Leben. , no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jörg Ernst Weigand (b. 1940), "Du mußt das Leben nicht verstehen", published 2023 [ voice and piano ], from Traumtage, p.machinery [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen", 1939 [ tenor and piano ], from Lieder: 20 poems from Frühe Gedichte (Rainer Maria Rilke), no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Mathias Rüegg (b. 1952) , "You Don’t Have to Understand Existence", copyright © ; composed by Mathias Rüegg.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-02-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
You Don’t Have to Understand Existence
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
You don’t have to understand existence [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Text Authorship:
- by Mathias Rüegg (b. 1952), "You Don’t Have to Understand Existence", copyright ©
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mathias Rüegg (b. 1952), "You Don’t Have to Understand Existence", published 2021 [ voice and band ], from my poet’s love, no. 9, sung by Lia Pale on album: my poet’s love, Universal Music Austria (Soulfood) [sung text checked 1 time]
This text was added to the website: 2023-11-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 68