Du dunkelnder Grund, geduldig erträgst du die Mauern.
Und vielleicht erlaubst du noch eine Stunde den Städten zu dauern
und gewährst noch zwei Stunden den Kirchen und einsamen Klöstern
und lässest fünf Stunden noch Mühsal allen Erlöstern
und siehst noch sieben Stunden das Tagwerk des Bauern –:
Eh du wieder Wald wirst und Wasser und wachsende Wildnis
in der Stunde der unerfaßlichen Angst,
da du dein unvollendetes Bildnis
von allen Dingen zurückverlangst.
Gib mir noch eine kleine Weile Zeit: ich will die Dinge so wie keiner lieben,
bis sie dir alle würdig sind und weit.
Ich will nur sieben Tage, sieben,
auf die sich keiner noch geschrieben,
sieben Seiten Einsamkeit.
Wem du das Buch gibst, welches die umfaßt,
der wird gebückt über den Blättern bleiben.
Es sei denn, daß du ihn in Händen hast, um selbst zu schreiben.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Das Stundenbuch, Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1918, p.44
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Das Stundenbuch, in 1. Das Buch vom mönchischen Leben , no. 61 [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 Matthias Kern , "Du dunkelnder Grund" [ chorus ], from Chormusik nach Gedichten von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Mathias Rüegg (b. 1952) , copyright © ; composed by Mathias Rüegg.
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "A Little More Time" ; composed by Leonard Enns.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Mathias Rüegg) , copyright ©
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-07-08
Line count: 17
Word count: 138
You dark’ning deep, how you endure the walls we make, perhaps you will allow the cities another hour and two hours for the churches and the lonely cloisters and though exhausted, you still grant five to the redeemed and seven hours to the workers; before you return to forest, water, and flourishing wilderness in that great dreadful hour, before you come to reclaim your unaccomplished likeness from all things. Give me just a little more time: I will love all things as no one has loved them until they blossom and are worthy of you. I ask but for seven days, seven still unwritten and untouched by anyone, seven pages of solitude. I, to whom you give this book of seven days, will long be bowed over its pages. But in truth, your hand is holding me, and you yourself will do the writing.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "A Little More Time" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Das Stundenbuch, in 1. Das Buch vom mönchischen Leben , no. 61
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Leonard Enns (b. 1948), "A Little More Time", 2020, copyright © 2022 [ satb chorus ], Cypress Choral Music
Score: Cypress Choral Music [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-08-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 144