Orchard | Never is the earth more solid than

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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Jamais la terre n'est plus réelle

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Jamais la terre n'est plus réelle
que dans tes branches, ô verger blond,
ni plus flottante que dans la dentelle
que font les ombres sur le gazon.

Là se rencontre ce qui nous reste,
ce qui pèse et ce qui nourrit,
avec le passage manifeste
de la tendresse infinie.

Mais à ton centre, la calme fontaine,
presque dormant en son ancien rond,
de ce contraste parle à peine,
tant en elle il se confond.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 29. Verger, no. 3 [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 Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Verger", 1939 [ mixed chorus ], from Six Chansons, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Léon Orthel (1905 - 1985), "Verger", op. 61 (Sept mélodies) no. 7 (1972), published 1972 [ high voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Ed. Donemus [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Bruno Gousset (b. 1958), "Verger", op. 21 no. 10 (1986) [ medium voice and piano ], from Vergers, no. 10
- View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Orchard", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 74

Orchard

Language: English after the French (Français)

Never is the earth more solid than 
in your branches, O fair orchard, 
Nor more buoyant than in the lacework 
the shadows make upon the grass. 

There we meet what remains to us, 
what has weight and nourishes us, 
along with the manifest passing 
of infinite tenderness. 

But at your heart the calm fountain, 
almost asleep in its ancient circle, 
speaks hardly at all of these contrasts, 
so much are they mixed up in it.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Grant Hicks, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 29. Verger, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-05-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 75