On All Souls' Day / Litany for the Feast of All Souls
(Poet's title: Am Tage Aller Seelen / Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen)
Set by Schubert:
D 343
[August 1816]
Part of The Theresa Grob Album
Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen,
Die vollbracht ein banges Quälen,
Die vollendet süßen Traum,
Lebenssatt, geboren kaum,
Aus der Welt hinüber schieden:
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Die sich hier Gespielen suchten,
Öfter weinten, nimmer fluchten,
Wenn vor ihrer treuen Hand
Keiner je den Druck verstand;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Liebevoller Mädchen Seelen,
Deren Tränen nicht zu zählen,
Die ein falscher Freund verließ,
Und die blinde Welt verstieß;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Und der Jüngling, dem verborgen,
Seine Braut am frühen Morgen,
Weil ihn Lieb’ ins Grab gelegt,
Auf sein Grab die Kerze trägt;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Alle Geister die, voll Klarheit,
Wurden Märtyrer der Wahrheit,
Kämpften für das Heiligtum,
Suchten nicht der Marter Ruhm;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Und die nie der Sonne lachten,
Unterm Mond auf Dornen wachten,
Gott, im reinen Himmelslicht,
Einst zu sehn von Angesicht:
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Und die gern im Rosengarten
Bei dem Freudenbecher harrten;
Aber dann, zur bösen Zeit,
Schmeckten seine Bitterkeit;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Auch, die keinen Frieden kannten,
Aber Mut und Stärke sandten
Über leichenvolles Feld
In die halb entschlafne Welt;
Alle, die von hinnen schieden,
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen,
Die vollbracht ein banges Quälen,
Die vollendet süßen Traum,
Lebenssatt, geboren kaum,
Aus der Welt hinüber schieden:
Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
May they rest in peace, all souls
Who have come to the end of a fearful agony,
Who no longer have sweet dreams,
Those who have had enough of life, those hardly born
Who have passed on from the world,
May all souls rest in peace!
Those who looked for companionship here
But more often wept, those who never fled
When their faithful hand
Was never pressed by anyone who understood them:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
The souls of girls full of love,
Whose tears cannot be counted,
Who were abandoned by a false friend
And repudiated by the blind world,
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
And the young man, to whom, secretly,
His bride goes early in the morning
(For her lover has been laid in the grave)
To carry a candle to his grave:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
All spirits who, full of clarity,
Became martyrs to truth,
Who battled for holiness
Without seeking the fame of martyrdom:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
And those who never smiled at the sun,
Who stayed up in the moonlight, on thorns,
In order to see God in the pure light of heaven,
To see him face to face at some point:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
And those who preferred to wait in the rose garden
Enjoying the beaker of joys,
But then, when times turned bad,
They tasted its bitterness:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
And those who knew no peace,
But were sent by courage and strength
Onto a corpse-covered battle field
In the half-sleeping world:
All those who have departed from here,
May all souls rest in peace!
May they rest in peace, all souls
Who have come to the end of a fearful agony,
Who no longer have sweet dreams,
Those who have had enough of life, those hardly born
Who have passed on from the world,
May all souls rest in peace!
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Bitterness Candles Courage Cups and goblets Dreams Fleeing Gardens Ghosts and spirits Graves and burials Joy Laments, elegies and mourning Martyrs and martyrdom Morning and morning songs Night and the moon Roses and pink Soul Songs for special occasions The sun Sweetness Tears and crying Thorns and pricking War, battles and fighting Weddings
Jacobi (a professor of Philosophy who later converted from Protestantism to Catholicism) added the following footnote to the poem’s title:
An diesem Feste besuchen die Römisch-Catholischen die Gräber der Ihrigen, setzen Lichter darauf, und beten für die Verstorbenen. (At this festival Roman Catholics visit the graves of their own people, put candles on them and pray for those who have died.)
All Souls’ Day (2nd November) should not be confused with All Saints’ Day (1st November). Rather than being a commemoration of saints (known and unknown) it is devoted to all of the faithful departed. It became established in Western Christianity through the influence of the Cluniac order in the late 10th century. In some areas of Western Europe where, after the 16th century, Protestantism discouraged prayer and liturgies for the dead, a tradition of venerating the departed in the dark days of early November nevertheless continued. This is still noticeable in countries like the UK, which commemorates those who fell in war on Armistice or Remembrance Day (11th November, or the Sunday nearest to it).
‘Litanies’ in general were never disapproved of by mainstream Protestants in the way that prayer for the dead was frowned on. In both the Lutheran and Anglican traditions formal Litanies have often been used. These are lists of supplications (Ancient Greek λιτή ‘lite’: a request, a petition) read out by a deacon, priest or cantor, to which the congregation is invited to respond (this explains the repetition that is basic to the genre).
Jacobi’s litany invites us to pray for the peaceful rest of a full range of deceased humanity: the traumatised (Die vollbracht ein banges Quälen) and the cheerful (Die vollendet süßen Traum); those who died in old age (Lebenssatt) and victims of infant mortality (geboren kaum); the lonely (stanza 2); ‘fallen’ women (stanza 3) and young bridegrooms (stanza 4); enlightened philosophers (stanza 5) and ascetic mystics (stanza 6); party-goers and revellers in general (stanza 7) as well as soldiers whose courage and determination has led to their death in battle (stanza 8). May they all rest in peace.
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Original Spelling Litaney auf das Fest aller Seelen Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen, Die vollbracht ein banges Quälen, Die vollendet süßen Traum, Lebenssatt, gebohren kaum, Aus der Welt hinüber schieden; Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Die sich hier Gespielen suchten, Oefter weinten, nimmer fluchten, Wenn vor ihrer treuen Hand Keiner je den Druck verstand; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Liebevoller Mädchen Seelen, Deren Thränen nicht zu zählen, Die ein falscher Freund verließ, Und die blinde Welt verstieß; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Und der Jüngling, dem verborgen, Seine Braut am frühen Morgen, Weil ihn Lieb' in's Grab gelegt, Auf sein Grab die Kerze trägt; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Alle Geister die, voll Klarheit, Wurden Märtyrer der Wahrheit, Kämpften für das Heiligthum, Suchten nicht der Marter Ruhm; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Und die nie der Sonne lachten, Unterm Mond auf Dornen wachten, Gott, im reinen Himmels-Licht, Einst zu sehn von Angesicht: Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Und die gern im Rosen-Garten Bey dem Freuden-Becher harrten; Aber dann, zur bösen Zeit, Schmeckten seine Bitterkeit; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Auch, die keinen Frieden kannten, Aber Muth und Stärke sandten Ueber leichenvolles Feld In die halb entschlafne Welt; Alle, die von hinnen schieden, Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden! Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen, Die vollbracht ein banges Quälen, Die vollendet süßen Traum, Lebenssatt, gebohren kaum, Aus der Welt hinüber schieden: Alle Seelen ruhn in Frieden!
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Gedichte von Johann Georg Jacobi. Zweyter Theil. Wien, 1816. Bey Ch. Kaulfuß & C. Armbruster (Meisterwerke deutscher Dichter und Prosaisten. Siebenzehntes Bändchen), pages 7-9; with Auserlesene Lieder Von J. G. Jacobi; Herausgegeben von Johann Georg Schlosser. Basel, bei J. J. Thurneysen, dem Jüngern, 1784, pages 7-9; and with Iris. Sechster Band. Berlin, Bey Haude und Spener, 1776, pages 293-296.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 7 [15 von 254] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ157693100