He whom I enclose with my name is...
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
Available translation(s): FRE GER
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.
I am ever busy building this wall all around;
and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day
I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall,
and I plaster it with dust and sand
lest a least hole should be left in this name;
and for all the care I take
I lose sight of my true being.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- 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: 2010-11-03
Line count: 9
Word count: 83
Der, den mit meinem Namen ich...
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Der, den mit meinem Namen ich einschließe, er weint in diesem Kerker.
Rastlos ziehe ich Tag für Tag die Mauer hoch;
und wie sie hoch und höher wächst zum Himmel,
verlier ich immer mehr den Blick in ihrem düstern Schatten für mein wahres Ich.
Stolz bin ich auf die mächt’ge Mauer,
verschließe sie mit Gips und Sand,
dass nicht die kleinste Öffnung sei in diesem Namen;
bei aller Sorgfalt, aller Müh
verlier mein wahres Sein ich aus dem Blick.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-30
Line count: 9
Word count: 79