Only midnight | Thou hast set day and night

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by Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Erst die Mitternacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Du hast Tag und Nacht gesetzt
  Über deiner Erde,
Tag, da sich das Aug ergetzt,
  Nacht voll Ungebärde.

Lehr uns danken, ewig Licht,
  Für die finstern Stunden,
Auch für die, da Dein Gesicht
  Über uns verschwunden!

Denn soweit ein Auge wacht
  In des Fleisches Banden,
Zeigt uns erst die Mitternacht,
  Daß dein Tag vorhanden.

Confirmed with Rudolf Alexander Schröder, Gesammelte Werke in Fünf Bänden, Erster Band, Die Gedichte, Berlin und Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1952, page 733.

Text Authorship:

by Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878 - 1962), "Erst die Mitternacht", written 1927, appears in Gedichte, in Die Geistlichen Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch: Mitte des Lebens, in Ein Kranz von Reimen [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 Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885 - 1974), "Erst die Mitternacht", op. 48 (Zwei Gesänge) no. 1 (1932) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Only midnight", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2024-01-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 54

Only midnight

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Thou hast set day and night
  Over Thy earth,
Day, so that our eyes may delight in it,
  Night full of unbridled wildness.

Eternal light, teach us to give thanks
  For the dark hours,
Also for those in which Thy face
  Has vanished from above us!

For as far as human eyes are wakeful
  In the bonds of the flesh,
'Tis only midnight that shows us
  That Thy day is there.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878 - 1962), "Erst die Mitternacht", written 1927, appears in Gedichte, in Die Geistlichen Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch: Mitte des Lebens, in Ein Kranz von Reimen
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-01-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 71