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Wie wohl ist mir im Dunkeln! Wie weht die laue Nacht! Die Sterne Gottes funkeln In feyerlicher Pracht! Komm, [Ida]1, komm ins Freye, Und laß in jene Bläue Und laß zu jenen Höhn Uns staunend aufwärts sehn. Sieh, wie die Leyer schimmert! Sieh, wie der Adler glüht! Sieh, wie die Krone flimmert, Und Gemma Funken sprüht! Die hellen Wächter winken, Die goldnen Wagen blinken, Und stolz durchschwimmt der Schwan Den blauen Ocean. O Sterne Gottes, Zeugen Und Boten beßrer Welt, Ihr heißt den Aufruhr schweigen, Der [unsern]2 Busen schwellt. Ich seh' hinauf, ihr Hehren, Zu euren lichten Sphären, Und [Ahnung beßrer]3 Lust Stillt die empörte Brust. O Ida, wenn die Schwermuth Dein sanftes Auge hüllt, Wenn dir die Welt mit Wermuth Den Lebensbecher füllt; So geh hinaus im Dunkeln, Und sieh die Sterne funkeln, Und leiser wird dein Schmerz, Und freyer schlägt dein Herz. [Und wenn im öden Staube Der irre Geist erkrankt; Wenn tief in dir der Glaube An Gott und Zukunft schwankt;]4 Schau auf zu jenen Fernen Zu jenen ew'gen Sternen! Schau auf und glaub an Gott, Und segne Grab und Tod. O Ida, wenn die Strenge Des Schicksals einst uns trennt, Und wenn das Weltgedränge Nicht Blick noch Kuß [uns gönnt]5; So schau hinauf ins Freye, In jene weite Bläue! In jenen lichten Höhn, Dort, dort ist Wiedersehn! Und wenn ich einst, o Theure, Von allem Kampf und Krieg Im stillen Grabe feyre, So schau empor und sprich: »In jenen hohen Fernen, Auf jenen goldnen Sternen, Dort, wo's am hellsten blitzt, Wallt mein Verlorner itzt.« O Sterne Gottes, Boten Und Bürger beßrer Welt, Die ihr die Nacht der Todten Zu milder Dämmrung hellt! Umschimmert sanft die Stätte, Wo ich aus stillem Bette Und süßem Schlaf erwach Zu Edens schönerm Tag!
J. Zumsteeg sets stanzas 1, 3-8
Confirmed with L.T.Kosegarten's Poesieen, Neueste Auflage, Zweyter Band, Berlin 1803, pages 6-9; and with Ludwig Theoboul Kosergarten's Poesieen. Zweiter Band. Leipzig bei Heinrich Gräff. 1798, pages 301-304. Kosegarten's poem is slightly different in later editions (see below).
First published (only stanzas 1-4 and 6) in Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1796. Herausgegeben von Schiller. Neustrelitz, bei dem Hofbuchhändler Michaelis, pages 174-176.
1 Harder, Zumsteeg: "Mädchen"2 Schiller's Musenalmanach, and Harder: "meinen"
3 Schiller's Musenalmanach: "Ahndung ewger"; Harder: "Ahnung ew'ger"
4 omitted by Harder.
5 Schiller's Musenalmanach, and Harder: "vergönnt"
Authorship:
- by Ludwig Gotthard Theobul Kosegarten (1758 - 1818), "Die Sterne" [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 Johann Christian Baldewein (1784 - 1848), "Die Sterne" [ soprano and piano ], from Sechs Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte. 2 Heft, no. 5, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Die Sterne", op. 17 no. 3, published 1825 [ voice and piano ], from Neun deutsche Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 3, Berlin: bei Fr. Laue [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Friedrich Hugo, Freiherr von Dalberg (1760 - 1812), "Die Sterne", published c1799 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Lieder, no. 4, Erfurt, Beyer und Maring [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Harder (1775 - 1813), "Die Sterne" [ voice and piano ], from Lieder mit Belgleitung des Pianoforte, no. 5, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Die Sterne", published [1799] [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Leder beym Claviere zu singen in Musik, no. 4, Leipzig: Bei Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Die Sterne", D 313 (1815), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Die Sterne", published 1805 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gesänge mit Begleitung des Piano-Fortes, 14e Sammlung , no. 4, J. F. Unger, Berlin [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), "Die Sterne", published 1801, stanzas 1,3-8, from Kleine Balladen und Lieder, Heft III, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), [adaptation] ; composed by Carl Gottlieb Hering.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Les estrelles", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De sterren", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "The stars", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Les étoiles", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 64
Word count: 293
How good it is for me here in the darkness. How the warm night wafts. The stars of God glow In a festive display. Come, Ida, come into the open And let us look up into this blue And let us look up into these heights And be amazed as we look up! Look, the 'lyre' is gleaming Look, the 'eagle' is glowing! Look, the 'Corona Borealis' is shimmering And 'Alpha Coronae Borealis' is sparkling! The bright 'watchmen' are waving, The gold 'carriages' are gleaming, And the 'swan' is proudly swimming across The blue ocean. O, stars of God, witnesses And ambassadors of a better world! You quieten the turmoil That fills my heart. I look up, you noble ones, To your light spheres, And a sense of eternal bliss Calms my rebellious breast. O Ida, if melancholy Shrouds your soft eyes, If the world uses wormwood To fill your cup of life, Then go out into the darkness And look at the stars sparkling, And your pain will be easier And your heart will beat more freely. And if in barren dust Your confused spirit falls sick, If, deep within, your faith In God and the future wavers, Look up into that distance To those eternal stars! Look up and believe in God, And bless the grave and death. O Ida, if the harshness Of fate ever divides us, And if the pressure of the world Offers us no chance to see or kiss each other, Then look up into space, Into the broad expanse of blue, Into those light heights, There! We shall see each other again there! And when, dear, I am protected from all wars and battles By the still grave, Then look upwards and say, "In those high distances, On those golden stars, There, where they glow brightest Is where he I have lost is now a pilgrim." O stars of God, ambassadors And citizens of a better world, You who brighten the night of the dead And bring the light of a more gentle dawn, Softly shine around the place Where I awake from a quiet bed And a sweet sleep Into Eden's more beautiful day!
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2011 by Malcolm Wren, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ludwig Gotthard Theobul Kosegarten (1758 - 1818), "Die Sterne"
This text was added to the website: 2011-10-30
Line count: 64
Word count: 362