Heilig Wesen! gestört hab' ich die goldene 
  Götterruhe dir oft, und der [geheimeren]1,
    [Tieferen]2 Schmerzen des Lebens
      Hast du manche gelernt von mir.

O vergiß es, vergib! gleich dem Gewölke dort
  Vor dem friedlichen Mond, geh' ich dahin, und du
    Ruhst und [glänzt]3 in deiner
      Schöne wieder, du süßes Licht!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Friedrich Hölderlin, Sämtliche Gedichte und Hyperion, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1999, page 198.

¹ Pfitzner: "geheimen"
² Apostel, Hauer, Rihm: "Tiefern"
³ Apostel, Hauer, Pfitzner, Rihm: "glänzest"

Text Authorship:

• by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Abbitte", written 1798, appears in Gedichte 1784-1800 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Hans Erich Apostel (1901 - 1972), "Abbitte", op. 9 no. 3, published 1941 [ low voice and orchestra ], Wien: Universal-Edition, No. 11267 (Klavier-Auszug) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Walter Braunfels (1882 - 1954), "Abbitte", op. 4 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 1 (c1905) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "Abbitte", op. 8 (Elf Lieder) no. 7 (1995-6) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Dessau (1894 - 1979), "Abbitte", 1937 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Fleischer (1896 - 1981), "Abbitte", op. 109 (6 Lieder für mittlere Stimme und Klavier) no. 5 (1939) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859 - 1951), "Abbitte", 1939 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "Abbitte", 1933 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vier Gesänge nach Worten von Hölderlin, no. 3, Schott Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by Josef Matthias Hauer (1883 - 1959), "Abbitte", op. 12 (Drei Lieder) no. 2 (1914) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Heiss (1897 - 1966), "Abbitte" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maria Herz (1878 - 1950), "Abbitte" [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Lieder im Volkston und Abbitte, no. 3, from Drei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Erwin Löwenfeld (1882 - 1949), as Erwin Lendvai, "Abbitte", op. 2a no. 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Romantisches Liederbuch I. Folge, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by George Washington Magnus (1863 - 1917), "Abbitte", op. 11 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, W. Hansen [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Erich Pfitzner (1869 - 1949), "Abbitte", op. 29 no. 1 (1921) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (1952 - 2024), "Abbitte", 2004 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Hölderlin-Gedichte, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johanna Senfter (1879 - 1961), "Abbitte", op. 120 no. 3 [ baritone and piano ], from Drei Gesänge von Hölderlin, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Weigl (1881 - 1949), "Abbitte", 1908 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885 - 1974), "Heilig Wesen", 1919 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Wiener (1891 - 1942), "Abbitte", op. 11b no. 1 (1918) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Pierre Jean Jouve (1887 - 1976) , "Pardon (Imploration)", appears in Poèmes de la folie d'Hölderlin, in Poèmes de plusieurs époques, Paris, Éd. Fourcade, first published 1929-30, copyright © ; composed by Henri-Pierre Poupard, as Henri Sauguet.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

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

• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Bas Ammerlaan) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
• ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 54

Holy Nature! I have often disturbed your golden,
godly rest; and of the more secret,
deeper pains of life,
many have you learned from me.

O forget it and forgive! Like those clouds there
before the peaceful moon, I will pass, and you
will rest and shine in your 
beauty again, you sweet light!