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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887)

Während solcherlei Beschwerde
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Während solcherlei Beschwerde
In der Unterwelt sich häuft,
Jammert Ceres auf der Erde.
Die verrückte Göttin läuft,

Ohne Haube, ohne Kragen,
Schlotterbusig durch das Land,
Deklamierend jene Klagen,
Die euch allen wohlbekannt:

«Ist der holde Lenz erschienen?
Hat die Erde sich verjüngt?
Die besonnten Hügel grünen,
Und des Eises Rinde springt.

Aus der Ströme blauem Spiegel
Lacht der unbewölkte Zeus,
Milder wehen Zephirs Flügel,
Augen treibt das junge Reis.

In dem Hain erwachen Lieder,
Und die Oreade spricht:
Deine Blumen kehren wieder,
Deine Tochter kehret nicht.

Ach wie lang ists, daß ich walle
Suchend durch der Erde Flur!
Titan, deine Strahlen alle
Sandt ich nach der teuren Spur!

Keiner hat mir noch verkündet
Von dem lieben Angesicht,
Und der Tag, der alles findet,
Die Verlorne fand er nicht.

Hast du, Zeus, sie mir entrissen?
Hat, von ihrem Reiz gerührt,
Zu des Orkus schwarzen Flüssen
Pluto sie hinabgeführt?

Wer wird nach dem düstern Strande
Meines Grames Bote sein?
Ewig stößt der Kahn vom Lande,
Doch nur Schatten nimmt er ein.

Jedem selgen Aug verschlossen
Bleibt das nächtliche Gefild,
Und solang der Styx geflossen,
Trug er kein lebendig Bild.

Nieder führen tausend Steige,
Keiner führt zum Tag zurück;
Ihre Tränen bringt kein Zeuge
Vor der bangen Mutter Blick.» 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Romanzen, in Unterwelt, no. 3 [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 Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "Während solcherlei Beschwerde", published c2002 [duet for voice and female voice with piano], from Unterwelt : Doppelchansons für eine Frauen- und eine Männerstimme, no. 3. [
     text not verified 
    ]

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

  • ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , title 1: "In the Underworld III", from Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, pages 222-223, published 1887


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-13
Line count: 44
Word count: 206

In the Underworld III
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Whilst their grievance each is venting
In the Underworld below,
Ceres, on the earth lamenting,
Runs distracted to and fro;
With no hood in sloven fashion,
Neither mantle o'er her gown,
She declaims that lamentation
Unto all of us well-known: -- 1

"Is the blessed spring-tide here?
Has the earth again grown young?
Green the sunny hills appear
And the icy band is sprung.
Mirrored from the clear blue river,
Zeus, unclouded, laugheth out,
Softer Zephyr's wings now quiver,
Buds upon the fresh twigs sprout.
In the hedge a new refrain;
Call the Oreads from the shore:
'All thy flowers come again,
But thy daughter comes no more!'

"Ah, how many weary days
I have sought o'er wide earth's space!
Titan, all thy sunny rays
I have sent on her dear trace!
Yet not one renews assurance
Of the darling face I wot,
Day, that findeth all things, the durance
Of my lost one, findeth not.
"Hast thou ravished, Zeus, my daughter?
Or, love-smitten by her charms,
Hath, o'er Orcus's night-black water,
Pluto snatched her in his arms?

"Who towards that gloomy strand
Herald of my grief will be?
Ever floats the bark from land,
Bearing phantoms ceaselessly.
Closed those shadowy fields are ever
Unto any blessèd sight,
Since thy Styx hath been a river,
It hath borne no living wight.
There are thousand stairs descending,
But not one leads upward there;
To her tears no token lending
At the anxious mother's prayer."

View original text (without footnotes)
1 (This footnote is from the book) "The three following verses are taken literally from Schiller's celebrated poems, "Lament of Ceres."

Text Authorship:

  • by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), "In the Underworld III", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, pages 222-223, first published 1887 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Romanzen, in Unterwelt, no. 3
    • 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-13
Line count: 44
Word count: 242

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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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