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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Fremd ist, was deine Lippen sagen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Fremd ist, was deine Lippen sagen,
Fremd ist dein Haar, fremd ist dein Kleid,
Fremd ist, was deine Augen fragen,
Und auch aus unsern wilden Tagen
Reicht nicht ein leises Wellenschlagen
An deine tiefe Seltsamkeit.

Du bist wie jene Bildgestalten,
Die überm leeren Altarspind
Noch immer ihre Hände falten,
Noch immer alte Kränze halten,
Noch immer leise Wunder walten –
Wenn längst schon keine Wunder sind.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Advent, Leipzig : P. Friesenhahn, 1898, p.51


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Advent [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 Maria Bach (1896 - 1978), "Klagegebet", 1932 [ cello and piano ], from Rilke-Lieder, no. 4, Bearbeitung des Rilkeliedes: Fremd ist was deine Lippen sagen [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Johannes Bammer (1888 - 1988), "Fremd ist, was deine Lippen sagen", 1937 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gesänge, no. 4, Leipzig : Gebr. Hug & Co [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Raoul Koczalski (1884 - 1948), "Fremd ist, was deine Lippen sagen", op. 116 no. 1, published 1936 [ voice, piano ], from 4 Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1, Köln : Tischer & Jagenberg [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Thomas F. Schubert (b. 1961), "Fremd ist, was deine Lippen sagen" [ soprano and orchestra ], from An manchen Tagen ist meine Seele still, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

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