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by Georg Friedrich Konrad Ludwig Gerstenbergk (1780 - 1838)
Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Hippolits Lied
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s):  CAT DUT ENG FRE
Laßt mich, ob ich auch still verglüh',
Laßt mich nur stille gehn;
Sie seh' ich spät, Sie seh' ich früh
Und ewig vor mir stehn.

Was ladet ihr zur Ruh' mich ein?
Sie nahm die Ruh' mir fort;
Und wo Sie ist, da muß ich seyn,
Hier sey es oder dort.

Zürnt diesem armen Herzen nicht,
Es hat nur einen Fehl:
Treu muß es schlagen bis es bricht,
Und hat deß nimmer Hehl.

Laßt mich, ich denke doch nur Sie;
In Ihr nur denke ich;
Ja! ohne Sie wär' ich einst nie
Bei Engeln ewiglich.

Im Leben denn und auch im Tod',
Im Himmel, so wie hier,
Im Glück und in der Trennung Noth
Gehör' ich einzig Ihr.

Confirmed with Gabriele. Ein Roman von Johanna Schopenhauer. In drei Theilen. Dritter Theil. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. 1821, page 146.

Note: Johanna Schopenhauer wrote in the foreword of her novel (Gabriele. Erster Theil. Leipzig: 1819, Vorwort, page VIII), that the poems in her book ar not by herself, but have been supplied by Friedrich von Gerstenbergk. Nevertheless, the poem is often misattributed to Johanna Schopenhauer.


Text Authorship:

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

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La cançó de l’Hipòlit", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Hippolit's lied", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Hippolytus' song", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant d'Hippolyte", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 118

Hippolytus' song
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Leave me, even though I am quietly fading away,
Let me just go off in silence;
I see her late in the day, I see her early in the morning,
And she is always standing before me.

Why are you inviting me to rest?
She has taken rest away from me;
And where she is, that is where I have to be,
Whether here or there.

Do not make this poor heart angry,
It has only one fault:
It has to beat on faithfully until it breaks,
And it has never made a secret of the fact.

Leave me, for I can only think of her;
I can only think because of her;
Yes! Without her I could never one day be
Amongst the angels eternally.

So in life as in death,
In heaven as here,
In happiness and in the agony of separation
I belong only to her.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 by Malcolm Wren, (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.
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Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2020-04-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 149