Traumgekrönt
German source:
Rainer Maria Rilke
mir bangte fast vor seiner Pracht …
Und dann, dann kamst du mir die Seele nehmen
tief in der Nacht.
Mir war so bang, und du kamst lieb und leise, –
ich hatte grad im Traum an dich gedacht.
Du kamst, und leis wie eine Märchenweise
erklang die Nacht …
Crowned with dreams
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Its brilliance almost frightened me ...
And then, then you came to take my soul
at the dead of night.
I was so frightened, and you came sweetly and gently,
I had been thinking of you in my dreams.
You came, and soft as a fairy tune
the night rang out …
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Traumgekrönt
German source:
Rainer Maria Rilke
Crowned with dreams
English source:
Richard Stokes
Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemen, –
That was the day of the white chrysanthemums –
mir bangte fast vor seiner Pracht …
Its brilliance almost frightened me ...
Und dann, dann kamst du mir die Seele nehmen
And then, then you came to take my soul
tief in der Nacht.
at the dead of night.
Mir war so bang, und du kamst lieb und leise, –
I was so frightened, and you came sweetly and gently,
ich hatte grad im Traum an dich gedacht.
I had been thinking of you in my dreams.
Du kamst, und leis wie eine Märchenweise
You came, and soft as a fairy tune
erklang die Nacht …
the night rang out …
Composer
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His circle included the musicians Alexander von Zemlinsky and Franz Schreker, the painter Gustav Klimt, the writer and satirist Karl Kraus, the architect Adolf Loos,…
Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets".He…