Nacht. Finsternis. In müder Hand Laß ich von Tages lautem Tun Abwärts zur [ewigen]1 Nacht gewandt Die Stirne ruhn. Wie still! Wie ohne Laut die Weite! Kaum rauscht im Weg ein welkes Blatt, Der Wolken dunkle Reise hat Nicht Mond, nicht Sterne zum Geleite. Langsam entgleitet meiner Brust Der arge Stachel, unbewußt Streift alles, was sie tags umgab, Die Seele ab. Was Tröstliches und Liebes ihr bekannt, Tritt aus des Traumes Wunderheimatland Vertraut hervor und neigt sich über sie. O Seelentrösterin, sei mir willkommen, Du Ahnungsvolle, deren Melodie So oft den Alp von meiner Brust genommen! Auf deine Stimme laß mich wieder, Traumtiefer Born geschmückter Lieder, Auf deiner Silbersaiten Rauschen Entrückt und traumverloren lauschen!
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 195-196.
1 Wetzel: "ew'gen"Text Authorship:
- by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Inspiration", written 1902 [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 Wilhelm Lache , "Inspiration", 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Justus Hermann Wetzel (1879 - 1973), "Inspiration" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Inspiració", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Inspiration", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Inspiration", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-04
Line count: 22
Word count: 115