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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Blindenklage
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
Wenn ich dich frage, dem das Leben blüht:
O sage mir, sage wie das Mohnfeld glüht!
Das rote Mohnfeld, wie es jauchzt und lacht:
Tot ist mein Pfad und ewig meine Nacht.

Wohl manch ein Unglück schlägt den Menschen schwer;
Wer so viel trägt, kennt keinen Jammer mehr.
Die sonnenhellen Fluren wankt er blind
Und tappt nach Spuren, die verschüttet sind.

Ich träume Sonnen, strecke weit die Hand,
Ich möchte greifen durch die dunkle Wand,
Ich möchte fassen durch der Schatten Schicht
In roten Mohn und strahlend goldnes Licht.

Aus alten Zeiten zuckt ein Schimmer nach,
In toten Augen blieb die Sehnsucht wach
Und wissend von der Herrlichkeit des Lichts.
So ganz enterbt geh ich durch Nacht und Nichts.

Ob Freud, ob Leid begegnet meinen Wegen,
Tot ist mein Fluch, und tot ist auch mein Segen.

Text Authorship:

  • by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929), "Blindenklage" [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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Blindenklage", op. 56 (Sechs Lieder) no. 2 (1903-6) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Plany d’un cec", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Klacht van een blinde", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Blind man's lament", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Complainte de l'aveugle", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 136

Complainte de l'aveugle
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Quand je te questionne, toi pour qui la vie est en fleurs :
Ô dis-moi, dis-moi comme le champ de coquelicots rayonne !
Le rouge champ de coquelicots, comme il jubile et rit :
Mon chemin est mort et ma nuit est éternelle.

Bien des malheurs frappent lourdement l'homme ;
Celui qui supporte tant ne connaîtra plus jamais la misère.
Il vacille dans les champs baignés de soleil
Et tâtonne à la recherche de traces qui sont effacées.

Je rêve de soleils, j'écarte en grand les mains,
Je voudrais attraper à travers les murs sombres,
Je voudrais saisir [les choses] à travers les couches d'ombre,
Dans les coquelicots rouges et la lumière d'or rayonnante.

Venant des temps anciens un reflet palpite,
Dans mes yeux morts le désir restait en éveil
Et connaissant la magnificence de la lumière,
Si totalement déshérité, je vais dans la nuit et le néant.

Que mon chemin rencontre la joie ou la douleur,
Ma malédiction est morte, ainsi que ma bénédiction.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2013 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 Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929), "Blindenklage"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-10
Line count: 18
Word count: 161

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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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