by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931)
In desperate hope
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali)
Available translation(s): GER
In desperate hope I go and search for her in all the corners of my room; I find her not. My house is small and what once has gone from it can never be regained. But infinite is thy mansion, my lord, and seeking her I have to come to thy door. I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky and I lift my eager eyes to thy face. I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish -- no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears. Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean, plunge it into the deepest fullness. Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch in the allness of the universe.
Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 87, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 87 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Wendy Hiscocks (b. 1963), "In desperate hope", 1998 [ women's chorus a cappella ], from A Tagore Album, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Pouwels.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ; composed by Stefan Wolpe.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 125
Voll verzweifelter Hoffnung
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Voll verzweifelter Hoffnung geh ich umher und suche nach ihr in allen Winkeln des Hauses, ich finde sie nicht. Mein Haus ist klein, und was einmal ging, kann sich nie wiederfinden. Aber unendlich groß ist dein Haus, o Herr, und sie suchend kam ich an deine Tür. Ich stehe unter dem goldenen Dach deines Abendhimmels und hebe die flehenden Augen zu deinem Antlitz. Ich kam zum Rande der Ewigkeit, in der nichts schwindet - nicht Hoffnung, nicht Glück und nicht das Bild eines Angesichtes durch Tränen geschaut. O, tauch mein entleertes Leben in jenen Ozean, versenk es in seine tiefste Fülle. Laß mich noch einmal fühlen im weiten Weltall die süße verlorne Berührung.
Authorship:
- by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931), first published 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 87, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 87 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stefan Wolpe (1902 - 1972), "Voll verzweifelter Hoffnung", 1926 [voice and piano], from Neun Vertonungen aus Gitanjali, no. 5. [text not verified]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 113