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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Translation © by Salvador Pila

Symbolum
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG
Des Maurers Wandeln
Es gleicht dem Leben, 
Und sein Bestreben
Es gleicht dem Handeln 
Der Menschen auf Erden.

Die Zukunft decket 
Schmerzen und Glücke. 
Schrittweis' dem Blicke,
Doch ungeschrecket 
Dringen wir vorwärts,

Und schwer und [schwerer]1
Hängt eine Hülle 
Mit Ehrfurcht. Stille 
Ruhn oben die Sterne 
Und unten die Gräber.

Betracht' sie genauer 
Und siehe, so melden 
Im Busen der Helden 
Sich wandelnde Schauer 
Und ernste Gefühle.

Doch rufen von drüben 
Die Stimmen der Geister
Die Stimmen der Meister:
Versäumt nicht zu üben 
Die Kräfte des Guten.

Hier winden sich Kronen 
In ewiger Stille,
Die sollen mit Fülle 
Die Thätigen lohnen!
Wir heißen euch hoffen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   H. Sommer 

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe, letzter Hand, Dritter Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1828, pages 69-70.

1 Sommer: "ferne"

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Symbolum", appears in Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe, letzter Hand, Band III, in 2. Loge [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 Gottfried von Einem (1918 - 1996), "Symbolum", op. 73 no. 1 (1982-3), first performed 1985 [ medium voice and piano ], from 12 Tag- und Nachtlieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Symbolum" [ voice and orchestra ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Simbolum", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Symbolum", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 106

Simbolum
Language: Catalan (Català)  after the German (Deutsch) 
La transformació del mestre d’obres
és semblant a la vida,
i els seus afanys
són semblants a les accions
dels humans a la terra.

El futur assegura
pena i goig.
Pas a pas a la vista,
però sense temor
maldem endavant,

i feixuc i distant
penja un embolcall
amb veneració. Silents
reposen a dalt les estrelles
i a baix els sepulcres.

Observa més atentament
i guaita, així es fan palesos
als pits dels herois
canviants fremiments
i solemnes sentiments.

Però del més enllà criden
les veus dels esperits,
les veus dels mestres:
no deixis de practicar
els poders de la bondat.

Aquí es trenen garlandes,
en l’etern silenci,
per premiar amb esplet
els diligents!
Us ordenem tenir esperança.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2024 by Salvador Pila, (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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Symbolum", appears in Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe, letzter Hand, Band III, in 2. Loge
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2024-04-06
Line count: 30
Word count: 118

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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