Heiter
German source:
Friedrich Nietzsche
Drin lacht dein Antlitz sonnenlicht
In tiefer süßer Einsamkeit,
Wo leise Well' an Well' sich bricht.
Ist's Nacht, ist's Tag? Ich weiß es nicht,
Lacht doch auf mich so lieb und lind
Dein sonnenlichtes Angesicht
Und selig bin ich wie ein Kind.
Serene
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
In which your face laughs like sunlight
In deep sweet solitude,
Where wave on wave is softly breaking.
Is it night? Is it day? I do not know.
So dearly and so gently your sunlit face
Laughs down on me
And I am blissfully happy like a child.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Heiter
German source:
Friedrich Nietzsche
Serene
English source:
Richard Stokes
Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit,
My heart is vast like a lake,
Drin lacht dein Antlitz sonnenlicht
In which your face laughs like sunlight
In tiefer süßer Einsamkeit,
In deep sweet solitude,
Wo leise Well' an Well' sich bricht.
Where wave on wave is softly breaking.
Ist's Nacht, ist's Tag? Ich weiß es nicht,
Is it night? Is it day? I do not know.
Lacht doch auf mich so lieb und lind
So dearly and so gently your sunlit face
Dein sonnenlichtes Angesicht
Laughs down on me
Und selig bin ich wie ein Kind.
And I am blissfully happy like a child.
Composer
Anton von Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor.
Poet
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, philologist, and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history.