by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Margaret Dows Herter Norton Crena de Iongh, née Herter (1894 - 1985)
Nur wer die Leier schon hob
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): FRE
Nur wer die Leier schon hob auch unter Schatten darf das unendliche Lob ahnend erstatten. Nur wer mit Toten vom Mohn aß, von dem ihren, wird nicht den leisesten Ton wieder verlieren. Mag auch die Spieglung im Teich oft uns verschwimmen: Wisse das Bild. Erst in dem Doppelbereich werden die Stimmen ewig und mild.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 9 [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 Nancy Laird Chance (b. 1931), "Nur wer die Leier", published 1966 [soprano, flute, English horn, and cello], from Three Poems by Rilke, no. 2, New York, Seesaw [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Nur wer die Leier", copyright © 2012 [tenor and piano], from Sonnets to Orpheus, no. 9, confirmed with an online score [ sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Margaret Dows Herter Norton Crena de Iongh, née Herter (1894 - 1985) , appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, copyright © FRE ; composed by George Perle.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 54
Sonnet #9
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Only one who has lifted the lyre [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Authorship:
- by Margaret Dows Herter Norton Crena de Iongh, née Herter (1894 - 1985), appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, copyright © [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 9
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by George Perle (1915 - 2009), "Sonnet #9", first performed 1975 [chorus a cappella], from Songs of Praise and Lamentation: Sonnets to Orpheus, no. 2 [ sung text checked 1 time]
This text was added to the website: 2009-12-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 63