But I think . . . | They tell me that you are now safe, secured

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by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ich aber denke

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Sie sagen mir, du sei'st geborgen nun
Vor allem Leid, ein friedevolles Ruh'n,
Ein Sonnentraum sei über dich gekommen,
Seit dir der Tod die Bürde abgenommen,
Die Leben heißt. Du führtest, sagen sie,
Ein neues Dasein voller Harmonie,
Du wandeltest in wunderbaren Hallen,
Darin die Lieder der Erlösten schallen.
So sagen sie, und ach, viel Schön'res noch.
Ich aber denke heimlich, heimlich doch,
Daß aller Glanz, der jene Wände deckt,
Dir nicht die Erde und dein Weib versteckt,
Dein Weib, das draußen steht! Mit ihrem Trauern
Die Hallen füllt und an die ew'gen Mauern,
Die zwischen Tod und Leben sind gethürmt,
Mit dem Verzweiflungsmuth der Sehnsucht stürmt.

Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart und Berlin: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, pages 41-42.

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Ich aber denke . . .", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Das Ringlein sprang entzwei, no. 24 [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 Ernst Hans Fährmann (1860 - 1940), "Ich aber denke", op. 32 (Zehn kleine Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte), Heft 1 no. 6, published 1906 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, (Junne.) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "But I think . . .", copyright © 2023, (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: 2012-05-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 107

But I think . . .

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

They tell me that you are now safe, secured
From all sorrow, a peaceful rest,
A sunny dream has come over you
Since death took the burden from you,
The burden called life.  You are leading, they say,
A new existence full of harmony,
[That] you are walking in wondrous halls
In which the songs of the saved resound.
Thus they say, and ah, much more beautiful things yet.
But secretly, secretly I nevertheless think
That all the radiance that covers yonder walls
Does not hide from you the earth and your wife,
Your wife who stands outside!  Who with her mourning
Fills the halls and storms the eternal walls
That rise high between death and life
With the desperation of yearning.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Sharon Krebs, (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 German (Deutsch) by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Ich aber denke . . .", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Das Ringlein sprang entzwei, no. 24
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 122