Als läge er in einem Kraterkreise auf einem Mond: ist jeder Hof umdämmt, und drin die Gärten sind auf gleiche Weise gekleidet und wie Waisen gleich gekämmt von jenem Sturm, der sie so rauh erzieht und tagelang sie bange macht mit Toden. Dann sitzt man in den Häusern drin und sieht in schiefen Spiegeln, was auf den Kommoden Seltsames steht. Und einer von den Söhnen tritt abends vor die Tür und zieht ein Tönen aus der Harmonika wie Weinen weich; so hörte ers in einem fremden Hafen--. Und draußen formt sich eines von den Schafen ganz groß, fast drohend, auf dem Außendeich.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Neue Gedichte, Leipzig Insel-Verlag 1920
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Die Insel - Nordsee, no. 2 [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 Viktor Kioulaphides (b. 1961), "Als läge er in einem Kraterkreise" [ voice and piano or mandolins ], from Nordsee Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leopold Spinner (1906 - 1980), "Die Insel", op. 16 (Liederen) no. 3b (1960), published c2005, copyright © 1975 [ soprano and piano ], London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Stephen Cohn , no title, appears in New Poems, in The Island in the North Sea, no. 2, copyright © ; composed by Colin Matthews.
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-04-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 102
As if it lay within a ring, a crater [ ... ]
About the headline (FAQ)
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.Confirmed with Stephen Cohn, Rainer Maria Rilke: Neue Gedichte / New poems, Evanston : Northwestern University Press, 1998, p.115
Text Authorship:
- by Stephen Cohn , no title, appears in New Poems, in The Island in the North Sea, no. 2, copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Die Insel - Nordsee, no. 2
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Colin Matthews (b. 1946), "The Farms", 2008, published 2008 [ voice, alto flute, horn, harp, piano, violin, viola, violoncello ], from The island, no. 2, Faber music [sung text not yet checked]
This text was added to the website: 2023-09-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 100