Franz Schubert, the famous Austrian composer, was a poet as well. In 1823,
five years before his death, he wrote a very touching “Mein Gebet”
(My Prayer) in which “he” (or the narrator) asks God to take “his” miserable life so that he can be reborn as a pure being.
This poem matches the mood of many of Schubert's late compositions
and I have recited it before a performance of his F-Minor Fantasy.
Here is my English translation (...the verses are more touching in
German!):
My
Prayer (1823)
Deeper
yearning's holy longing
Into
fairer worlds is thronging;
Wants
to penetrate dark space
With
almighty loving rays.
To
your son, Great Father, borrow,
In
reward for deepest sorrow,
As
salvation from above
Your
eternal ray of love!
See,
abased in dust and ashes,
Prey
to agonizing lashes,
Lies
my life in torture's thrall
Nearing
its eternal fall.
Kill
it and my flesh and blood,
Throw
All into Lethe's flood,
And
a purer, stronger life
Let,
o Great One, then be rife.
(tr.
Rolf-Peter Wille)
This
is the original German:
Mein
Gebet
Tiefer
Sehnsucht heil'ges Bangen
Will
in schön're Welten langen;
Möchte
füllen dunklen Raum
Mit
allmächt'gem Liebestraum.
Großer
Vater! reich' dem Sohne,
Tiefer
Schmerzen nun zum Lohne,
Endlich
als Erlösungsmahl
Deiner
Liebe ew'gen Strahl.
Sieh,
vernichtet liegt im Staube,
Unerhörtem
Gram zum Raube,
Meines
Lebens Martergang
Nahend
ew'gem Untergang.
Tödt'
es und mich selber tödte,
Stürz'
nun alles in die Lethe,
Und
ein reines kräft'ges Sein
Laß
o Großer, dann gedeih'n.
Here
is an earlier translation of Eric Blom who is better known as the editor
of the 5th edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
(1954):
My
Prayer
With
a holy zeal I yearn
Life
in fairer worlds to learn;
Would
this gloomy earth might seem
Filled
with love's almighty dream.
Sorrow's
child, almighty Lord,
Grant
Thy bounty for reward.
For
redemption from above
Send
a ray of endless love.
See,
abased in dust and mire
Scorched
by agonizing fire,
I
in torture go my way
Nearing
doom's destructive day.
Take
my life, my flesh and blood,
Plunge
it all in Lethe's flood,
To
a purer, stronger state
Deign
me, Great One, to translate.
(tr.
Eric Blom)
“Sorrow's
child”, of course, is a mis-translation: the genitive “tiefer
Schmerzen” refers not to “Sohne” but to “Lohne”! (There is
a comma after “Sohne”.)
