×
You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Some of the following material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. Printing copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator is also illegal.
You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
For more information, contact us at:
Before writing, please read the instructions below the translations (under Authorship). Always include the names of the translators in your email if you wish to reprint something!
by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit
Language: German (Deutsch)
Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit, als welkten in den Himmeln ferne Gärten; sie fallen mit verneinender Gebärde. Und in den Nächten fällt die schwere Erde aus allen Sternen in die Einsamkeit. Wir alle fallen. Diese Hand da fällt. Und sieh die andre an: es ist in allen. Und doch ist einer, welcher dieses Fallen unendlich sanft in seinen Händen hält.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Herbst", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, first published 1920 [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 Elizabeth R. Austin (b. 1938), "Herbst" [medium voice and piano], from Drei Rilke-Lieder, no. 2 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Herbst", 2008 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Zwei Rilke-lieder, no. 1 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henk Badings (1907 - 1987), "Herbst", from Fünf Rilke-Lieder, no. 2 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Conrad Beck (1901 - 1989), "Herbst" [voice and piano or organ], from Drei Herbstgesänge, no. 3 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Albert Ernst Anton Becker (1834 - 1899), "Im Herbst", op. 8 (Fünf Lieder) no. 4, published 1884 [medium voice and piano], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Herbst", 1984, copyright © 1987 [four-part mixed chorus], from Hommage à Rilke, no. 2, Editio Musica Budapest, Z. 13279 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Wim Franken (b. 1922), "Herbst", 1959, from Zes Rilke-liederen, no. 6 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Robert Fürstenthal (1920 - 2016), "Herbst" [voice and piano], from 16 Lieder und Balladen vom Leben und Vergehen, no. 14, confirmed with a CD booklet [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Erhebung", op. 25 no. 5 (1912-25), published 1926, first performed 1927 [SSAA chorus a cappella], from Herbstlieder, no. 5, N. Simrock, Berlin [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Krause (1889 - ?), "Herbst", op. 47 no. 5, published 1972?, from Sechs Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 5 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ignace Lilien (1897 - 1964), "Herbst", 1923 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ignace Lilien (1897 - 1964), "Herbst ", 1922, copyright © 1960 [low voice or medium voice and piano], from Sechs Gedichte von R.M. Rilke, no. 1, Amsterdam : Donemus [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Léon Orthel (1905 - 1985), "Herbst", op. 87 no. 3 (1980), from Herfst, no. 3 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Siegmund Schmidt (b. 1939), "Herbst", 2010 [alto and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Peter Visser (b. 1939), "Herbst", 1981, from Zes Rilke-liederen, no. 3 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Harry Duncan , "Autumn", copyright © FRE ITA ; composed by Lee Hoiby.
- Also set in Portuguese (Português), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Outono" ENG ENG ENG ENG ENG ENG FRE ITA ; composed by Natho Henn.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John H. Campbell) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Autumn", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Walter A. Aue) , "Fall", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Fall", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Fall", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Automne", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Autunno", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: John H. Campbell
Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:01:46
Line count: 9
Word count: 62
Fall
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
The leaves are falling, falling as from far, as though celestial gardens withered earthward; their fall is a denying silent motion, and in the nights out of the starry ocean the heavy earth falls far from every star. We fall, unseeing? Look, this hand descends and see the other hands: it's in their being. And yet there's One who holds our fall, foreseeing, forever gently in His loving hands.
Authorship
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 by Bertram Kottmann, (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.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Herbst", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, first published 1920
Text added to the website: 2008-11-20 00:00:00
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:03:00
Line count: 9
Word count: 69