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Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort. Sie sprechen alles so deutlich aus: Und dieses heißt Hund und jenes heißt Haus, und hier ist Beginn und das Ende ist dort. Mich bangt auch ihr Sinn, ihr Spiel mit dem Spott, sie wissen alles, was wird und war; kein Berg ist ihnen mehr wunderbar; ihr Garten und Gut grenzt grade an Gott. Ich will immer warnen und wehren: Bleibt fern. Die Dinge singen hör ich so gern. Ihr rührt sie an: sie sind starr und stumm. Ihr bringt mir alle die Dinge um.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke, kommentierte Ausgabe in vier Bänden, Band 1 Gedichte 1895 bis 1910, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel und Ulrich Fülleborn, Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 1996, page 106.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", appears in Frühe Gedichte, in Mir zur Feier [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 Willy Burkhard (1900 - 1955), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", op. 20, Heft 1 (Rilke Liederzyklus I) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lukas Haselböck , "Ich fürchte mich so vor des Menschen Wort", 1996 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sechs Lieder nach Rilke, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Viktor Kalabis (1923 - 2006), "Ich fürchte mich so", 1988-1989, first performed 1993 [ low voice and piano ], from Kolotoč života, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Kox (b. 1930), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", 2001, published 2001 [ soprano and organ ], from Die Dinge singen, no. 2, Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Birgitta Lutz , "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", published 2003 [ voice and piano ], from Acht Vertonungen nach Gedichten von R.M. Rilke, no. 7, Verlag Joachim Schmitz [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Marx (b. 1957), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", 2009 [ 3 voices, guitar, accordion, and duduk ], from Lieder der Poesie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Oertzen (1910 - 1990), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", op. 6 no. 6, copyright © 1959 [ voice and piano ], from Rilke-Lieder, no. 6, Hamburg : Hüllenhagen & Griehl [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reinhold Ruiss , "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort" [ voice and piano ], from Rilke Lieder, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Konstantin Wladigeroff (b. 1978) and by Alexander Wladigeroff (b. 1978), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", 2020 [ speaker and chamber orchestra ], from Magie; Hommage an Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gérard Zinsstag (b. 1941), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", 2015 [ mezzo-soprano, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello ], from Rilke-lieder, no. 3, Ricordi [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Walter A. Aue) , "The words of humans fill me with fear", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 93
The words of humans fill me with fear. They name all the things with articulate sound: so this is called house and that is called hound, and the end's over there and the start's over here. Their thinking is scary, with scorn they have fun; they know what will come and what came before; and even the mountain is sacred no more: their property ends just where God's has begun. I'm meaning to warn them and stop them: Stay clear! It's the singing of things I'm longing to hear. You touch them and stiff and silent they turn. You're killing the things for whose singing I yearn!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort", appears in Frühe Gedichte, in Mir zur Feier
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 107