by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Albert Ernest Flemming
Das Lied des Trinkers
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: FRE
Es war nicht in mir. Es ging aus und ein. Da wollt ich es halten. Da hielt es der Wein. (Ich weiß nicht mehr was es war.) Dann hielt er mir jenes und hielt mir dies bis ich mich ganz auf ihn verließ. Ich Narr. Jetzt bin ich in seinem Spiel und er streut mich verächtlich herum und verliert mich noch heut an dieses Vieh, an den Tod. Wenn der mich, schmutzige Karte, gewinnt, so kratzt er mit mir seinen grauen Grind und wirft mich fort in den Kot.
Confirmed with Das Buch der Bilder von Rainer Maria Rilke, Leipzig, Iminsel-Verlag, 1920, page 136.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Das Lied des Trinkers", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 4, first published 1906 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2012 [ bass or baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Reinhard Bitzinger , "Das Lied des Trinkers", copyright © 2020 [ voice and piano ], Recorded on album: Bunte Grautöne [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antal Doráti (1906 - 1988), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 1975, orchestrated 1978 [ bass and piano or orchestra ], from Die Stimmen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Heinz Höne (1924 - 2008), "Das Lied des Trinkers" [ 4 soli and piano ], from Die Stimmen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Huyssen (b. 1964), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 1992, first performed 1998 [ baritone and guitar ], from Die Stimmen, no. 3, Unveröffentliches Manuskript [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Tilson Thomas (b. 1944), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2019 [ mezzo-soprano, bass-baritone, and orchestra ], from Meditations on Rilke, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerhard Wimberger (1923 - 2016), "Das Lied des Trinkers", 2012 [ baritone and instrumental ensemble ], from Rilkelieder , no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Albert Ernest Flemming , "Song of the drunkard", appears in Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems, first published 1986, copyright © ; composed by Stephen Paulus.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La chanson de l'ivrogne", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 89
Song of the drunkard
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
It was not in me. It moved in and out [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Text Authorship:
- by Albert Ernest Flemming , "Song of the drunkard", appears in Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems, first published 1986, copyright © [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Das Lied des Trinkers", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 4, first published 1906
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stephen Paulus (b. 1949), "Song of the drunkard", copyright © 1998 [SATB chorus with divisi to SSAATTBB and full orchestra], from Voices, no. 3, Paulus Publications [ sung text checked 1 time]
This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 96