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O glückselige Zeit, da der Jüngling blüht und die Jungfrau! Unaufhaltsam gehst du dahin, nie wiederzukehren! Gleich wie ein weitaussehendes Lied anhebet und freundlich Jedem das Herz einnimmt (dies hoffet ein Sänger bescheiden), Daß man der fliehenden Stunde nicht wahrnimmt und sich das Ende Gerne verhüllt, doch kommt es zuletzt und die Töne verstummen: Also verrinnt die gemessene Frist anmutiger Jugend. Zwar auch der Mann, der dem Haus vorsteht und neben dem Weibe Blühende Kinder ernährt, noch über die Mitte des Lebens Grünet er neidenswert: dann aber empfängt ihn das Alter Schon mit unwillkommenem Gruß, und dringet ihm Freundschaft Auf, die jeden beschämt und welcher doch alle sich fügen, Ehe das Bitterste naht; denn lieb ist das Leben auch so noch.
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Text Authorship:
- by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), no title, appears in Idylle vom Bodensee, beginning of the much longer poem, "Siebenter Gesang" [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 Paul Müller-Zürich (1898 - 1993), "Idylle vom Bodensee" [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Palmer) , "From: Idyll of Lake Constance", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Peter Palmer
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 121
Oh, that time of pure bliss when young lads grow tall, and young lasses! With implacable step you depart, beyond all retrieving! Just as a song divining the future strikes up and serenely Captures all hearts (this is the singer's unassuming ambition), So that one fails to take heed of time's passing and draws a curtain Hiding the end, which comes nonetheless and will silence the music: Thus will expire the preordained amount of life's youthful sweetness. Granted: that paterfamilias observed with his consort Raising his ruddy-cheeked children, he too continues to prosper, Envied by all, beyond middle age: then old age accosts him, Giving its unwelcome salute, dictating a friendship Which will always embarrass, yet one and all must submit to, Ere the bitterest stage, for life is still kind within limits.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 by Peter Palmer, (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 Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), no title, appears in Idylle vom Bodensee, beginning of the much longer poem, "Siebenter Gesang"
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 133