Félicité | Des joies sans nombre

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by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776) and by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Seligkeit

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE ITA SPA SPA

Freuden sonder Zahl
Blühn im Himmelssaal
[Engeln]¹ und Verklärten,
Wie die Väter lehrten.
O da möcht ich sein,
Und mich [freun, mich freun]²!

Jedem lächelt traut
Eine Himmelsbraut;
Harf' und Psalter klinget,
Und man tanzt und singet.
O da möcht' ich sein,
Und mich ewig freun!

Lieber bleib' ich hier,
Lächelt Laura mir
Einen Blick, der saget,
Daß ich ausgeklaget.
Selig dann mit Ihr,
Bleib' ich ewig hier!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Neu besorgt und vermehrt von Johann Heinrich Voss. Hamburg, bei Carl Ernst Bohn. 1804, pages 191-192.

This is the version of Hölty's poem heavily reworked by Voß. For the original version, with the title Minnelied, see below.

¹ Lang: "Engel"
² Lang, Schubert: "ewig freun"

Authorship:

by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), "Seligkeit", written 1773 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826), "Seligkeit", written 1773 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Gustav Blasser , "Seligkeit", op. 20 (Hölty-Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte), Heft 3 no. 9, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Kratochwill [sung text not yet checked]
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Seligkeit", op. 2 (Sechs teutsche [sic] Lieder) no. 2, published 1834 [ voice and piano ], München, Falter und Sohn, note: first published without an opus number; designated by Lang in 1867 as op. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Seligkeit", D 433 (1816), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

Go to the text. [ view differences ]

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

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 68

Félicité

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

Des joies sans nombre
Fleurissent dans la salle du ciel
Des anges et des êtres transfigurés,
Comme les Pères nous l'ont appris.
Oh, là-bas je voudrais être
Et me réjouir pour toujours !

À chacun sourit tendrement
Une fiancée céleste ;
Harpe et psaltérion résonnent,
Et on danse et on chante.
Oh, là-bas je voudrais être
Et me réjouir pour toujours !

J'aimerais mieux rester ici,
Si Laura me souriait,
Avec un regard qui dirait
Que je devrais cesser de me plaindre.
Pleinement heureux alors avec elle,
Je voudrais rester ici pour toujours !

Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2010 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), "Seligkeit", written 1773 and by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826), "Seligkeit", written 1773

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 94