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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932)

I know not from what distant time
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
I know not from what distant time 
thou art ever coming nearer to meet me. 
Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden 
from me for aye.

In many a morning and eve 
thy footsteps have been heard 
and thy messenger has come within my heart 
and called me in secret.

I know not only 
why today my life is all astir, 
and a feeling of tremulous joy 
is passing through my heart.

It is as if the time were come 
to wind up my work, 
and I feel in the air 
a faint smell of thy sweet presence.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 46, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 46 [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932) , no title ; composed by Daniel Ruyneman, Hans Schouwman.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 100

Ik weet niet van uit welken verren tijd...
Language: Dutch (Nederlands)  after the English 
Ik weet niet van uit welken verren tijd Gij
steeds nader komt om mij te ontmoeten. 
Uw zon en sterren kunnen U niet voor altijd voor
mij verborgen houden.

Meenig morgen en meenigen avond 
werden Uw voetstappen gehoord 
en Uw boode kwam in mijn hart 
en riep mij heimelijk.

Ik weet niet 
waarom mijn leeven vandaag zoo ontroerd is, 
een huivering van vreugde
vaart door mijn hart.

Het is alsof de tijd gekoomen 
is dat ik mijn werk zal be-eindigen, 
en ik speur in de lucht
een zwakke geur van Uw zoete aanweezen.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rabindranad Tagore: Wij zangen (Gitanjali) door F. van Eeden, Amsterdam, 1914, W. Versluys. Note: this is a prose text. Line-breaks have been added to make it line up with the original.


Text Authorship:

  • by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 46, first published 1912
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 46 [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Daniel Ruyneman (1886 - 1963), "Ik weet niet van uit welken verren tijd", 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Twee Wij-zangen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Hans Schouwman (1902 - 1967), "Ik weet niet uit welken verren tijd", 1935 [ voice and string quartet or piano ], from Vier wijzangen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

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

This text was added to the website: 2021-05-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 93

Gentle Reminder

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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