Hoffnung

Es reden und träumen die Menschen viel
Von bessern künftigen Tagen;
Nach einem glücklichen, goldenen Ziel
Sieht man sie rennen und jagen.
Die Welt wird alt und wird wieder jung,
Doch der Mensch hofft immer Verbesserung.

Die Hoffnung führt ihn ins Leben ein,
Sie umflattert den fröhlichen Knaben,
Den Jüngling begeistert ihr Zauberschein,
Sie wird mit dem Greis nicht begraben;
Denn beschließt er im Grabe den müden Lauf,
Noch am Grabe pflanzt er - die Hoffnung auf.

Es ist kein [leerer, schmeichelnder]1 Wahn,
Erzeugt im Gehirne des Toren.
Im Herzen kündet es laut sich an:
"Zu was Besserm sind wir geboren!"
Und was die innere Stimme spricht,
Das täuscht die hoffende Seele nicht.

by Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) , "Hoffnung"

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Karl Friedrich Ludwig Hellwig (1773-1838) , "Hoffnung", 1805.
by Armin Knab (1881-1951) , "Hoffnung"
by Nikolaus, Freiherr von Krufft (1779-1818) , "Die Hoffnung", c1814, published 1870, from Zwölf Lieder, no. 4.
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814) , "Hoffnung", 1809.
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , "Hoffnung", op. 87 no. 2, D. 251 (1815).
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , "Hoffnung", D. 637 (1817?9?)
by Friedrich Ludwig Seidel (1765-1831) , "Hoffnung" [voice and piano], in Almanach fürs Theater (Iffland), 1809

ENG English (Emily Ezust)
ITA Italian (Amelia Maria Imbarrato)
DUT Dutch [singable] (Lau Kanen)
FIN Finnish (Erkki Pullinen)
FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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Hope

 Men speak and dream a lot
 of better days to come;
 toward a successful, golden goal
 one can see them running and chasing.
 The world grows old and then grows young again,
 yet Man hopes always for improvement.
 
 Hope introduces Man to life,
 and it flutters about the cheerful boy.
 The young man is enraptured by its magic shine;
 it is not buried with the gray-haired old man,
 for although he ends his weary run in the grave,
 he still plants by his grave - Hope.
 
 It is no empty, flattering delusion
 generated in the mind of a fool.
 It proclaims itself loudly in the heart:
 "We were born for something better!"
 And what the inner voice speaks
 will not mislead the soul that hopes.

Translation from German to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, emily (AT) lieder (DOT) net, http://www.lieder.net/

a text in German by Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) , "Hoffnung" DUT ITA FRE FIN

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.