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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

O erst dann, wenn der Flug
Language: German (Deutsch) 
O erst dann, wenn der Flug
nicht mehr um seinetwillen
wird in die Himmelsstillen
steigen, sich selber genug,

um in lichten Profilen,
als das Gerät, das gelang,
Liebling der Winde zu spielen,
sicher, schwenkend und schlank, —

erst, wenn ein reines Wohin
wachsender Apparate
Knabenstolz überwiegt,

wird, überstürzt von Gewinn,
jener den Fernen Genahte
sein, was er einsam erfliegt.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 23 [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 Λrthvr , "Sonett XXIII", 2019 [ voice ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by James Blair Leishman (1902 - 1963) , "Only" ; composed by Morton Feldman.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 59

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