by
Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Zu fragmentarisch ist Welt und Leben?
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: ENG ENG FRE
Zu fragmentarisch ist Welt und Leben?
Ich will mich zum deutschen Professor begeben.
Der weiß das Leben zusammenzusetzen,
und er macht ein verständlich System daraus;
mit seinen Nachtmützen und Schlafrockfetzen
stopft er die Lücken des Weltenbaus.
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by David Leonard Blake (b. 1936), "From Die Heimkehr", published 1981 [ high voice and instrumental ensemble (11 instruments) ], from From the mattress grave : a cycle of twelve songs to poems by Heine, no. 8, note: also set in English (translated by Peter Palmer) [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leonard Blake (b. 1936), "From Die Heimkehr", published 1985 [ baritone, oboe, and piano ], from Five Heine Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leonard Blake (b. 1936), "From Die Heimkehr", published 1985 [ baritone, oboe, and string quartet ], from Six Heine Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Dessau (1894 - 1979), "Zu fragmentarisch", 1974 [ mezzo-soprano, unaccompanied ], from Drei Lieder für Edda Schaller, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Xaver Gardeweg (b. 1944), "Zu fragmentarisch", 1997 [ medium voice and piano ], from 7 Lieder nach gedichten von H. Heine, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Haine (1830 - 1910), "Zu fragmentarisch ist Welt und Leben", op. 57 (Zwei Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Lauck (b. 1943), "Zu fragmentarisch ist Welt und Leben", 1979-80, published 1980 [ unaccompanied soprano ], from Szenen, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Der deutsche Professor", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 58 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The German Professor", copyright ©
- ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
- ENG English [singable] (Peter Palmer) , "From Die Heimkehr", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 6
Word count: 36
The German Professor
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
World and life are too fragmentary?
I will take myself to the German professor.
He knows how to put life back together,
and he will make an intelligible system out of it;
with his nightcaps and his tattery nightrobe
he will stop up the openings in the structure of the world.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 6
Word count: 52