by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Mein Leben ist nicht diese steile Stunde
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): FRE
Mein Leben ist nicht diese steile Stunde,
darin du mich so eilen siehst.
Ich bin ein Baum vor meinem Hintergrunde,
ich bin nur einer meiner vielen Munde
und jener, welcher sich am frühsten schließt.
Ich bin die Ruhe zwischen zweien Tönen,
die sich nur schlecht aneinander gewöhnen:
denn der Ton Tod will sich erhöhn -
Aber im dunklen Intervall versöhnen
sich beide zitternd.
Und das Lied bleibt schön.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Mein Leben ist", written 1899, appears in Das Stundenbuch, in Das Buch vom mönchischen Leben , no. 20, first published 1905 [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 Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Mein Leben", copyright © 2009 [ soprano, viola d'amore, and cello ], from Rilke Songs, no. 2, confirmed with an online score [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Regina Wittemeier (b. 1956), "Mein Leben ist nicht diese steile Stunde", op. 34 (Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen) no. 7, published 2003 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Robert Bly (b. 1926) , "My life is not this steeply sloping hour", appears in Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, first published 1981, copyright © by Harper and Row, (re)printed on this website with kind permission FRE ; composed by Mark Abel.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Ma vie n'est pas cette heure abrupte", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-05-19
Line count: 11
Word count: 68