Songs

Aus Faust ‘O schaudre nicht’

by Bettine von Arnim From Die Lieder der Sammlung

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Text & Translation

Aus Faust ‘O schaudre nicht’
German source: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

O schaudre nicht! Laß diesen Blick,
Laß diesen Händedruck dir sagen,
Was unaussprechlich ist:
Sich hinzugeben ganz und eine Wonne
Zu fühlen, die ewig sein muß!
Ewig! - Ihr Ende wird Verzweiflung sein.
Nein! kein Ende. Kein Ende!

O do not shudder
German translation © Richard Stokes

O do not shudder! Let this gaze,
Let my hands in yours
Express to you the inexpressible:
To surrender utterly and to feel a rapture
That must be everlasting!
Everlasting! - the end would be despair.
No, no end! No end!

Aus Faust ‘O schaudre nicht’
German source: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

O do not shudder
German source: Richard Stokes

O schaudre nicht! Laß diesen Blick,
O do not shudder! Let this gaze,
Laß diesen Händedruck dir sagen,
Let my hands in yours
Was unaussprechlich ist:
Express to you the inexpressible:
Sich hinzugeben ganz und eine Wonne
To surrender utterly and to feel a rapture
Zu fühlen, die ewig sein muß!
That must be everlasting!
Ewig! - Ihr Ende wird Verzweiflung sein.
Everlasting! - the end would be despair.
Nein! kein Ende. Kein Ende!
No, no end! No end!

Poet

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on…

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