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Eine Schale des Stroms, welcher Vergessenheit Durch Elysiums Blumen rollt, Bring, o Genius, bring deinem Verschmachtenden! Dort, wo Phaon die Sängerin, Dort, wo Orpheus vergaß seiner Eurydike, Schöpf den silbernen Schlummerquell! Ha! Dann tauch' ich dein Bild, spröde Gebieterin, Und die [lächelnde Lippe]1 voll Lautenklanges, des Haars schattige Wallungen, Und das Beben der weißen Brust, Und den siegenden Blick, der mir im Marke zuckt, Tauch' ich tief in den Schlummerquell.
Note: Hölty's original text is from 1776 (not published); the text of this song is the version revised by Voss.
1 Bachmann: "lächelnden Lippen"Authorship
- by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776)
- by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Gottlob Bachmann (1763 - 1840), "Die Schale der Vergessenheit", op. 33 no. 2 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Oden, beym Clavier zu singen, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Die Schale der Vergessenheit", op. 46 (Vier Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 3 (1868), published 1868 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De beker der vergetelheid", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The cup of oblivion", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La coupe d'oubli", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
A goblet of the river Lethe which spreads oblivion Through the flowers of Elysium, O spirit, bring one to your thirsting servant! There, where Phaon forgot the singer Sappho, There, where Orpheus forgot his Eurydice, Ladle up the silver sleeping potion! Ha! For there will I plunge your image, brittle, imperious one; And your smiling lips full of Lute-music, your hair's shadowy waves, The shaking of your white breast, And that victorious gaze which pierces me through; I will plunge all of them deep into oblivion.
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 Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776) and by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826)
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 86