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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

König, birgst du dich in Finsternissen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
König, birgst du dich in Finsternissen,
und ich hab dich doch in der Gewalt.
Sieh, mein festes Lied ist nicht gerissen,
und der Raum wird um uns beide kalt.
Mein verwaistes Herz und dein verworrnes
hängen in den Wolken deines Zornes,
wütend ineinander eingebissen
und zu einem einzigen verkrallt.

Fühlst du jetzt, wie wir uns umgestalten?
König, König, das Gewicht wird Geist.
Wenn wir uns nur aneinander halten,
du am Jungen, König, ich am Alten,
sind wir fast wie ein Gestirn das kreist.

About the headline (FAQ)


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in David singt vor Saul [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 Karl Michael Komma (1913 - 2012), "König, birgst du dich in Finsternissen", 1953 [ alto and piano ], from David singt vor Saul, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Max Lang (1917 - 1987), "König, birgst du dich in Finsternissen", 1942 [ tenor and orchestra ], from David singt vor Saul, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-09-30
Line count: 13
Word count: 83

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