Ich kann nicht schlafen. Das Sternenlicht
Macht alle Fenster blau. Die Nacht
Schaut mir so furchtbar ins Gesicht
Und wacht, und wacht.

Die Stunden [gehen]1 ohne Sinn
Hinab, hinweg ins andere Land,
An dessen [unerforschtem]2 Strand
Ich bald auch bin.

Morgen, morgen, da will mein Herz
Wieder leben und unbedacht
Sich erlaben an Lust und Schmerz
Bis in die Nacht.

Morgen, ach, da leb ich nicht mehr,
Da bin ich drüben am bleichen Strand;
Schlummer winkt mir von ferne her,
Vom anderen Land.

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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, page 171.

Confirmed with Unterwegs. Gedichte von Hermann Hesse, München: Georg Müller Verlag, 1911, page 29. The poem has no title in this publication.

¹ Unterwegs publication: "taumeln." In addition there are minor punctuation differences between the two publications.
² Escher: "namenlosen"

Text Authorship:

• by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Schlaflosigkeit", written 1907, appears in Unterwegs, in Schlaflosigkeit, no. 2, first published 1911 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Laci Boldemann (1921 - 1969), "Sternenlicht" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Escher (1915 - 2008), "Schlaflosigkeit", op. 15 no. 11 (1945) [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder nach Hermann Hesse, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 85

我无法入睡。 星光灿烂
使窗户都变蓝。 夜晚
使我的脸可怕不堪
观看，观看。

时间毫无意义流逝
下降，到另一国家那边，
在它未知晓得海岸
我也快是。

明天，明天，心在那边
重新生活，肆无忌惮
沉浸于快乐和苦难
直到夜晚。

明天，哦，不再住在那边，
我在这苍白的海滩上；
沉睡从远处向我招唤，
自另一地方。