Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben auf Erden hier. Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben und schwinden wir. Und messen unsre trägen [Tritte]1 nach Raum und Zeit. Und sind - [und]2 wissen's nicht - in [Mitte der]3 Ewigkeit.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Swienty, Zilcher: "Schritte"
2 Zilcher: "wir"
3 omitted by Swienty.
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Ein Traum", 1980, copyright © 1984 [four-part mixed chorus], from Heide-Skizzen, no. 1, Robitschek, AR 8551 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ernst Pepping (1901 - 1981), "Unser Leben", 1946, published 1949 [voice and piano], from Haus- und Trostbuch, no. 32 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Claus Swienty , "Ein Traum" [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felix Wolfes (1892 - 1971), "Ein Traum ist unser Leben", 1956 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Hermann Karl Josef Zilcher (1881 - 1948), "Ein Traum ist unser Leben", op. 109 no. 3 [2 voices, 2 harmonicas], from Fünf Duette für zwei Singstimmen und zwei Mundharmonikas in C, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [ sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Bertram Kottmann , "Our life is but a dream, and dreaming", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ITA ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sogno, soltanto sogno è l'esistenza", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 39
Our life is but a dream, and dreaming we live down here. Like shadows on the swell we're streaming and disappear. And measure our laboured striding by time and space, not knowing that we e'er abide in eternity.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Bertram Kottmann , "Our life is but a dream, and dreaming", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Our life is but a dream", 2013 [medium voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-03
Line count: 8
Word count: 38