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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Nah ist nur Innres; alles andre fern
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Nah ist nur Innres; alles andre fern.
Und dieses Innere gedrängt und täglich
mit allem überfüllt und ganz unsäglich.
Die Insel ist wie ein zu kleiner Stern,

welchen der Raum nicht merkt und stumm zerstört
in seinem unbewußten Furchtbarsein,
so daß er, unerhellt und überhört,
allein,

damit dies alles doch ein Ende nehme,
dunkel auf einer selbsterfundnen Bahn
versucht zu gehen, blindlings, nicht im Plan
der Wandelsterne, Sonnen und Systeme.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Neue Gedichte, Leipzig Insel-Verlag 1920


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Die Insel - Nordsee, no. 3 [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 Viktor Kioulaphides (b. 1961), "Nah ist nur Innres; alles andre fern" [ voice and piano or mandolins ], from Nordsee Lieder, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Leopold Spinner (1906 - 1980), "Die Insel", op. 16 (Liederen) no. 3c (1960), published c2005, copyright © 1975 [ soprano and piano ], London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Stephen Cohn , no title, appears in New Poems, in The Island in the North Sea, no. 3, copyright © ; composed by Colin Matthews.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-04-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 70

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