Limiti dell'umano | Quando l'antico

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Wenn der uralte

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA SPA

Wenn der uralte,
Heilige Vater
Mit gelassener Hand
Aus rollenden Wolken
Segnende Blitze
Über die Erde sä't,
Küß' ich den letzten
Saum seines Kleides,
Kindliche Schauer
[Treu]¹ in der Brust.

Denn mit Göttern
Soll sich nicht messen
Irgend ein Mensch.
Hebt er sich aufwärts,
Und berührt
Mit dem Scheitel die Sterne,
Nirgends haften dann
Die unsichern Sohlen,
Und mit ihm spielen
Wolken und Winde.

Steht er mit festen,
Markigen Knochen
Auf der wohlgegründeten,
Dauernden Erde;
Reicht er nicht auf,
Nur mit der Eiche
Oder der Rebe
Sich zu vergleichen.

Was unterscheidet
Götter von Menschen?
Daß viele Wellen
Vor jenen wandeln,
Ein ewiger Strom:
Uns hebt die Welle,
Verschlingt die Welle,
Und wir versinken.

Ein kleiner Ring
Begränzt unser Leben,
Und viele Geschlechter
Reihen sich dauernd
An ihres Daseyns
Unendliche Kette.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Zweyter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, pages 84-85; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 212-214.

¹ Schubert: "Tief"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), title 1: "Grenzen der Menschheit", title 2: "Gränzen der Menschheit", written 1780, first published 1789 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 62 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anders Eliasson (1947 - 2013), "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1993, published 1995 [ voice and piano ], from Fyra sånger till text av Goethe, no. 3, Warner/Chappell Music Skandinavia [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ernst Hess (1912 - 1968), "Grenzen der Menschheit", op. 58, published 1966 [ mixed chorus and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Gränzen der Menschheit", op. 63 no. 2, published 1857 [ four-part men's chorus ], from Drei Gedichte von Göthe für vierstimmigen Männerchor, no. 2, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (1863 - 1932), "Grenzen der Menschheit" [ men's chorus and piano or small orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Tauno Pylkkänen (1918 - 1980), "Wenn der uralte", alternate title: "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Grenzen der Menschheit", D 716 (1821), published 1832 [ bass, piano ], A. Diabelli & Co., VN 4014, Wien (Nachlaß-Lieferung 14) [sung text checked 1 time]
by George Stern (1867 - 19??), "Grenzen der Menschheit", published 1905 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Grenzen der Menschheit", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 51, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]

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

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Ihmisyyden rajat"
SPA Spanish (Español) (unknown or anonymous translator)

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 131

Limiti dell'umano

Language: Italian (Italiano) after the German (Deutsch)

Quando l'antico 
Padre celeste
Con mano serena
Da nubi tonanti
Benedicenti lampi
Sopra la terra sparge,
mi chino a baciare
l'estremo lembo della Sua veste,
e un infantile tremore
mi riempie il cuore.
 
Perché con gli dei
Non deve misurarsi
Nessuno fra gli uomini.
Se in alto si leva
E tocca, qualcuno,
Col capo le stelle,
allora in nessun luogo
poggiano i suoi piedi insicuri,
e di lui gioco si prendono
nuvole e venti.
 
Se con membra robuste,
sta vigoroso
sulla sicura
stabile terra,
il paragone
non regge 
con la quercia
o anche con la vite.
 
Cosa allora distingue
Dei e uomini?
Che molte onde
Davanti a loro passano
In eterna corrente:
Noi l'onda innalza,
e poi ci sommerge,
facendoci affondare.
 
Un piccolo cerchio
La nostra vita limita,
e molte generazioni
perennemente si allineano
alla catena infinita
della loro esistenza.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2008 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), title 1: "Grenzen der Menschheit", title 2: "Gränzen der Menschheit", written 1780, first published 1789
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-24
Line count: 42
Word count: 140