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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Dir aber, Herr, o was weih ich dir, sag
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Dir aber, Herr, o was weih ich dir, sag,
der das Ohr den Geschöpfen gelehrt?—
Mein Erinnern an einen Frühlingstag,
seinen Abend, in Russland—, ein Pferd....

Herüber vom Dorf kam der Schimmel allein,
an der vorderen Fessel den Pflock,
um die Nacht auf den Wiesen allein zu sein;
wie schlug seiner Mähne Gelock

an den Hals im Takte des Übermuts,
bei dem grob gehemmten Galopp.
Wie sprangen die Quellen des Rossebluts!

Der fühlte die Weiten, und ob!
der sang und der hörte—, dein Sagenkreis
war in ihm geschlossen.
Sein Bild: ich weih's.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   H. Birtwistle 

H. Birtwistle sets line 15

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Sonette an Orpheus, Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1923


Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 20 [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 Harrison Birtwistle, Sir (1934 - 2022), "Elegy 19, Sonnet I, 20", 2003-04, first performed 2004, line 15 [ oboe, harp and countertenor ], from Orpheus elegies, no. 26, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Nikolai Vasilyevich Boldyrev (1883 - 1929) ; composed by Yury Semyonovich Vaikhansky.
    • Go to the text.

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

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 92

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