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by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931)
Translation © by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Children
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER ITA
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, 
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children 
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, 
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, 
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed, 
for love is sufficient unto love.

Text Authorship:

  • by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), appears in The Prophet [author's text not yet checked 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 Thomas F. Schubert (b. 1961), "Children" [ mixed chorus, solo voices, and percussion instruments ], from Trilogy of Love, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Kinder", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Figli", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Maria Nimmerfall

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-06
Line count: 23
Word count: 197

Figli
Language: Italian (Italiano)  after the English 
I vostri figli non sono i vostri figli.
Sono figli e figlie della brama che in sé stessa ha la Vita.
Non da voi vengono, ma per mezzo vostro.
E anche se stanno con voi, non vi appartengono.
Potete dare loro il vostro amore ma non i vostri pensieri.
Perché hanno i loro pensieri.
Potete ospitare i loro corpi, ma non le loro anime,
perché le loro anime abitano le case di domani,
che non vi è dato visitare, neanche nei sogni.
Potete sforzarvi di assomigliare loro,
ma non pretendere di renderli simili a voi.
Perché la vita non procede a ritroso né indugia sul passato.
Voi siete l'arco dal quale i vostri figli,
come frecce viventi, sono scagliati lontano.
L'arciere osserva il bersaglio sulla traiettoria dell'infinito
e con tutta la sua forza vi tende,
affinché le sue frecce vadano veloci e lontane.
Lasciatevi tendere con gioia nelle mani dell'arciere,
perché come egli ama il volo della freccia,
così ama pure la fermezza dell'arco.

L'amore non dà niente tranne se stesso e non prende niente se non da se stesso.
L'amore non possiede né vuole essere posseduto,
perché l'amore basta all'amore.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2012 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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 English by Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), appears in The Prophet
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2012-04-30
Line count: 23
Word count: 191

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