Limits of Mankind | When the ancient

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Wenn der uralte

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA SPA

Wenn der uralte,
Heilige Vater
Mit gelassener Hand
Aus rollenden Wolken
Segnende Blitze
Über die Erde sä't,
Küß' ich den letzten
Saum seines Kleides,
Kindliche Schauer
[Treu]¹ in der Brust.

Denn mit Göttern
Soll sich nicht messen
Irgend ein Mensch.
Hebt er sich aufwärts,
Und berührt
Mit dem Scheitel die Sterne,
Nirgends haften dann
Die unsichern Sohlen,
Und mit ihm spielen
Wolken und Winde.

Steht er mit festen,
Markigen Knochen
Auf der wohlgegründeten,
Dauernden Erde;
Reicht er nicht auf,
Nur mit der Eiche
Oder der Rebe
Sich zu vergleichen.

Was unterscheidet
Götter von Menschen?
Daß viele Wellen
Vor jenen wandeln,
Ein ewiger Strom:
Uns hebt die Welle,
Verschlingt die Welle,
Und wir versinken.

Ein kleiner Ring
Begränzt unser Leben,
Und viele Geschlechter
Reihen sich dauernd
An ihres Daseyns
Unendliche Kette.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Berg • A. Eliasson • E. Hess • T. Pylkkänen • F. Schubert • H. Wolf

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Zweyter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, pages 84-85; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 212-214.

¹ Schubert: "Tief"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), title 1: "Grenzen der Menschheit", title 2: "Gränzen der Menschheit", written 1780, first published 1789 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 62 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anders Eliasson (1947 - 2013), "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1993, published 1995 [ voice and piano ], from Fyra sånger till text av Goethe, no. 3, Warner/Chappell Music Skandinavia [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ernst Hess (1912 - 1968), "Grenzen der Menschheit", op. 58, published 1966 [ mixed chorus and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Gränzen der Menschheit", op. 63 no. 2, published 1857 [ four-part men's chorus ], from Drei Gedichte von Göthe für vierstimmigen Männerchor, no. 2, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (1863 - 1932), "Grenzen der Menschheit" [ men's chorus and piano or small orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Tauno Pylkkänen (1918 - 1980), "Wenn der uralte", alternate title: "Grenzen der Menschheit", 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Grenzen der Menschheit", D 716 (1821), published 1832 [ bass, piano ], A. Diabelli & Co., VN 4014, Wien (Nachlaß-Lieferung 14) [sung text checked 1 time]
by George Stern (1867 - 19??), "Grenzen der Menschheit", published 1905 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Grenzen der Menschheit", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 51, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Ihmisyyden rajat"
SPA Spanish (Español) (unknown or anonymous translator)

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 130

Limits of Mankind

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

When the ancient
Holy father
With calm hand
From the rolling clouds
Sends blessed lightning
Over the earth,
I kiss the last
Seam of his cloak
With a childlike awe
Deep in my breast.

For with gods
Shall never compete
Mortal Man.
If he lifts himself up
And disturbs
The stars with his head,
Then nowhere are anchored
His uncertain feet,
And with him sport
The clouds and the wind.

If instead he stands with firm,
Vigorous bones,
Upon the well-founded
and enduring earth,
He does not reach up
Even to the oak tree,
Or the vine
To compare.

What distinguishes
Gods from Men?
That many a wave broke
Before the one came wandering -
An eternal stream:
The wave lifts us;
Yet gulp in the water,
And we drown.

A small ring
Limits our life,
And many generations
String past constantly,
Their existences forming
An endless chain.

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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), title 1: "Grenzen der Menschheit", title 2: "Gränzen der Menschheit", written 1780, first published 1789
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 147

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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.