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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten
aber plötzlich ist sie ausgegossen :
Welt ist draußen, Welt ist nicht zu fassen.

Warum trank ich nicht, da ich es aufhob,
aus dem vollen, dem geliebten Antlitz
Welt, die nah war, duftend meinem Munde?

Ach, ich trank. Wie trank ich unerschöpflich .
Doch auch ich war angefüllt mit zu viel
Welt, und trinkend ging ich selber über.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Gedichte, Leipzig : Insel-verlag, 1927, p.445


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Letzte Gedichte [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 Werner Bitter (b. 1899), "Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten", op. 6 (Vier Lieder) no. 2, published 1929 [ alto or baritone and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner & Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Olga) Pozzi Escot (b. 1933), "Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten", 1959 [ speaker and string quartet ], from Three Poems of Rilke, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Norbert Laufer (b. 1960), "Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten", 2002, first performed 2002 [ baritone and piano ], from Welt trinken. Nach Gedichten von Rilke, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Wilhelm Rettich (1892 - 1988), "Welt war in dem Antlitz der Geliebten", op. 23 (Drei Rilke Lieder) no. 3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

This text was added to the website: 2023-11-12
Line count: 9
Word count: 64

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