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by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
Translation by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846)

When coldness wraps this suffering clay
Language: English 
When coldness wraps this suffering clay,
  Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?
It cannot die, it cannot stay,
  But leaves its darken'd dust behind.
Then, unembodied, doth it trace
  By steps each planet's heavenly way?
Or fill at once the realms of space,
  A thing of eyes, that all survey?

Eternal, boundless, undecay'd,
  A thought unseen, but seeing all,
All, all in earth or skies display'd,
  Shall it survey, shall it recal:
Each fainter trace that memory holds
  So darkly of departed years,
In one broad glance the soul beholds,
  And all, that was, at once appears.

Before Creation peopled earth,
  Its eye shall roll through chaos back;
And where the farthest heaven had birth,
  The spirit trace its rising track.
And where the future mars or makes,
  Its glance dilate o'er all to be,
While sun is quench'd or system breaks,
  Fix'd in its own eternity.

Above or Love, Hope, Hate, or Fear,
  It lives all passionless and pure:
An age shall fleet like earthly year;
  Its years as moments shall endure.
Away, away, without a wing,
  O'er all, through all, its thoughts shall fly;
A nameless and eternal thing,
  Forgetting what it was to die.

Text Authorship:

  • by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "When coldness wraps this suffering clay", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 20, first published 1815 [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 Isaac Nathan (1790 - 1864), "When coldness wraps this suffering clay", published 1816 [ duet for 2 sopranos with piano ], from A Selection of Hebrew Melodies No. I, no. 20 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846) , appears in Hebräische Gesänge, first published 1820 ; composed by Carl Loewe.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Quand la mort glace cette argile souffrante", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 20


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-08-08
Line count: 32
Word count: 197

Wohin, o Seele, wirst du eilen?
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Wohin, o Seele, wirst du eilen?
Wenn nun der Leib sinkt in das Grab?
Du kannst nicht sterben, kannst nicht weilen
der  dunkle Staub fällt von di ab.
Wirst du dann körperlos dich heben,
von Stern zu Sternen, stufenweis'?
wirst du im ew'gen Raume schweben,
ein sehend Aug', das alles weiß?

Entfesselt, ewig, nie veraltet,
erblickt sie, selber unsichtbar,
was in der Schöpfung sich entfaltet,
was nun besteht, und was einst war;
was auch schon längst verflossnen Jahren
verdunkelt unserm Geist entflieht,
kann sie mit einem Blick gewahren,
der, was geschah, auf einmal sieht.

Eh noch der Schöpfung Werk begonnen,
dringt bis zum Chaos sie zurück,
und zu noch ungebornen sonnen
erhebt sie ihren Seherblick.
Es schaut ihr Auge, was wird werden,
was schwinden in zukünft'ger Zeit;
es löschen Sonnen, brechen Erden,
sie ruht in eigner Ewigkeit.

Frei ist sie, rein;  denn überwunden
Hat Furcht sie, Liebe, Hoffnung, Hass.
Und tausend Jahr, die schon entschwunden,
sie hatten Eines Tages Maß.
Auch unbeschwingt fliehn die Gedanken
Durchs All, wohin es will der Geist,
der namenlos und sonder Schranken
schon längst vergaß, was Sterben heißt.

Text Authorship:

  • by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846), appears in Hebräische Gesänge, first published 1820 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "When coldness wraps this suffering clay", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 20, first published 1815
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Wohin, o Seele, wirst du eilen?", op. 13 (Hebräische Gesänge) no. 5 (1825), published 1826 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2006-05-07
Line count: 32
Word count: 183

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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