The song of life | Great is life and rich!

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by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Gesang des Lebens

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Gross ist das Leben und reich!
Ewige Götter schenkten es uns,
lächelnder Güte voll,
uns den Sterblichen, Freudegeschaffenen.

Aber arm ist des Menschen Herz!
Schnell verzagt, vergisst es der reifenden Früchte.
Immer wieder mit leeren Händen
sitzt der Bettler an staubiger Strasse,
drauf das Glück mit den tönenden Rädern
leuchtend [vorbeifuhr]¹.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Marx

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Meine Verse. Gesammtausgabe, Dritte Auflage, Berlin: S. Fischer Verlag, 1906, page 236.

¹ Marx: "vorüber fuhr"

Text Authorship:

by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905), "Gesang des Lebens", written 1898, appears in Meine Verse 1883-1904, appears in Diogenes, Szenen einer Komödie in Versen [author's text checked 1 time 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 Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Gesang des Lebens", 1909, published 1912 [ medium voice, piano ], in Lieder und Gesänge, II. Folge, Nr.23 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Gesang des Lebens", op. 35 no. 3 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El cant de la vida", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The song of life", subtitle: "From Diogenes", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le chant de la vie", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-06-08
Line count: 10
Word count: 53

The song of life

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Great is life and rich!
The eternal gods gave it to us.
full of smiling benevolence,
[gave it] to us, the mortals, [to us] who were created for joy.
 
But poor is the heart of man!
Quickly becoming despondent, it forgets the ripening fruits.
Ever anew with empty hands
the beggar sits beside the dusty street,
whereon Happiness with resounding wheels
shiningly drove by.

Subtitle: "From Diogenes"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2012 by Sharon Krebs, (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 German (Deutsch) by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905), "Gesang des Lebens", written 1898, appears in Meine Verse 1883-1904, appears in Diogenes, Szenen einer Komödie in Versen
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 64