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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Wie einer, der auf fremden Meeren fuhr
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  FRE
Wie einer, der auf fremden Meeren fuhr,
so bin ich bei den ewig Einheimischen;
die vollen Tage stehn auf ihren Tischen,
mir aber ist die Ferne voll Figur.

In mein Gesicht reicht eine Welt herein,
die vielleicht unbewohnt ist wie ein Mond,
sie aber lassen kein Gefühl allein,
und alle ihre Worte sind bewohnt.

Die Dinge, die ich weither mit mir nahm,
sehn selten aus, gehalten an das Ihre -:
in ihrer großen Heimat sind sie Tiere,
hier halten sie den Atem an vor Scham.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Der Einsame", written 1903, appears in Das Buch der Bilder, first published 1920 [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 Mary (Carlisle) Howe (1882 - 1964), "Der Einsame", 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Four Poems By Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Torsten Nilsson (1920 - 1999), "Gedicht für Einsame", op. 92 (Drei Gedichte) no. 3 (1980) [ chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Beth Wiemann (b. 1959), "Der Einsame", 2019, published 2020 [ baritone and piano ], from Six songs on Rilke, no. 6, New York, NY : American Composers Alliance, Inc. [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le solitaire", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 84

Le solitaire
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Comme celui qui navigua sur des mers étrangères,
je suis ainsi chez les éternels habitants ;
ils ont des jours pleins sur leurs tables,
mais pour moi le lointain est plein de figures.

Un monde passe dans ma figure,
il est peut-être inhabité, comme une lune,
mais eux ne laissent seul aucun sentiment,
et tous leurs mots sont habités.

Les choses que de loin j'ai avec moi rapportées ici
semblent recherchées si l'on s'en tient aux leurs --
dans leur grande patrie ce sont des animaux,
ici, ils retiennent leur souffle de honte.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2012 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Der Einsame", written 1903, appears in Das Buch der Bilder, first published 1920
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2013-01-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 91

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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