O melody of the sap

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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Ô mélodie de la sève

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Ô mélodie de la sève
qui dans les instruments 
de tous ces arbres s'élève -,
accompagne le chant 
de notre voix trop brève.

C'est pendant quelques mesures 
seulement que nous suivons 
les multiples figures 
de ton long abandon, 
ô abondante nature.

Quand il faudra nous taire, 
d'autres continueront...
Mais à présent comment faire 
pour te rendre mon 
grand cœur complémentaire ?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 44. Printemps, no. 1 [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 Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Printemps", 1939 [ mixed chorus ], from Six Chansons, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Damien Luy (b. 1980), "Mélodie de la sève", copyright © 2008 [ mixed chorus ], from Plumes Valaisannes, no. 5, Saint-Maurice : Fédération des sociétés de chant du Valais : Editions Labatiaz [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 60

O melody of the sap

Language: English after the French (Français)

O melody of the sap 
that rises in the instruments 
of all these trees, 
accompany the song 
of our too-short voices. 

It is only for a few measures 
that we follow 
the manifold figurations 
of your long abandon, 
O abundant nature. 

When it comes time for us to fall silent 
others will carry on ... 
But for now what can I do 
to make my whole heart 
a complement to you?

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Mélodie de la sève" = "Melody of the Sap"
"Printemps" = "Spring"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Grant Hicks, (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 French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, in 44. Printemps, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-05-06
Line count: 15
Word count: 70