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Auch das Schöne muß sterben! Das Menschen und Götter bezwinget, Nicht die eherne Brust rührt es des stygischen Zeus. Einmal nur erweichte die Liebe den Schattenbeherrscher, Und an der Schwelle noch, streng, rief er zurück sein Geschenk. Nicht stillt Aphrodite dem schönen Knaben die Wunde, Die in den zierlichen Leib grausam der Eber geritzt. Nicht errettet den göttlichen Held die unsterbliche Mutter, Wann er, am skäischen Tor fallend, sein Schicksal erfüllt. Aber sie steigt aus dem Meer mit allen Töchtern des Nereus, Und die Klage hebt an um den verherrlichten Sohn. Siehe, da weinen die Götter, es weinen die Göttinnen alle, Daß das Schöne vergeht, daß das Vollkommene stirbt. Auch ein Klaglied zu sein im Mund der Geliebten, ist herrlich, Denn das Gemeine geht klanglos zum Orkus hinab.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Nänie" [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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Nänie", op. 82 (1880/1), published 1882 [ chorus and orchestra with harp ad libitum ], Leipzig, Peters [sung text checked 2 times]
- by Hermann (Gustav) Goetz (1840 - 1876), "Nenie", op. 10 (1874) [ SATB chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951), "Nänie", op. 44 (Zwei Lieder nach Gedichten Friedrich Schillers) no. 1 (1905) [ voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Klaagzang", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- ENG English [singable] (Daniel Platt) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Nénies", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Anche la Bellezza è destinata a morire!", copyright © 2009, (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: 14
Word count: 128
The beautiful, too, must die! That which subjugates men and gods does not stir the brazen heart of the stygian Zeus. Only once did love melt the Lord of Shadows, and just at the threshhold, he strictly yanked back his gift. Aphrodite does not heal the beautiful boy's wound, which the boar ripped cruelly in that delicate body. Neither does the immortal mother save the divine hero when, falling at the Scaean Gate, he fulfills his fate. She ascends from the sea with all the daughters of Nereus, and lifts up a lament for her glorious son. Behold! the gods weep; all the goddesses weep, that the beautiful perish, that perfection dies. But to be a dirge on the lips of loved ones can be a marvellous thing; for that which is common goes down to Orcus in silence.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of titles
"Nänie" = "Elegy"
"Nenie" = "Elegy"
Translator's notes.
Title: Nänie, or Nenie, means a funeral song or elegy, after the Roman goddess Nenia.
Line 2: the "stygian Zeus" is an epithet for Hades or Pluto.
Line 14: "Orcus" is the god of the underworld, or the underworld itself; sometimes conflated with Hades.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Nänie"
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 139