- Der König in Thule
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The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Der Koenig in Thule.
Der König in Thule, "The King in Thule", is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, written in 1774. It was later used by the poet as a brief passage of his masterwork, the tragedy Faust (Part I, lines 2759-82).
Contents
History
Goethe wrote a poem entitled "Geistesgruß", regarded as a precursor of "Der König in Thule", whilst travelling along the river Lahn in July 1774. Under Herder's influence, the setting was changed to the mythical island kingdom Thule, which was thought to be the northernmost place Greek seafarers ventured in antiquity.
The time of creation of this poem coincides with Goethe's first draft of his Faust — a work he would return to and revise throughout his lifetime. He worked on the first version (Urfaust) around 1772–1775, the next (Faust. Ein Fragment) from 1788 to 1790, Faust, Part I from 1797 to 1805 and finally Faust, Part II from 1825 to 1831, which was completed only a few months before his death at the age of 82 and published posthumously in 1832. The song, composed, like every literary ballad, in an artificially obsolete poetic language to make it sound like a traditional folk song, is used as Gretchen (Margaret)'s introduction, and provides a context in which to interpret her eventual fate. There are subtle differences of the song between the various versions, reflecting Goethe's progress on the tragedy.
Text
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German[1] English Es war ein König in Thule,
Gar treu bis an das Grab,
Dem sterbend seine Buhle
einen goldnen Becher gab.
Es ging ihm nichts darüber,
Er leert' ihn jeden Schmaus;
Die Augen gingen ihm über,
So oft er trank daraus.
Und als er kam zu sterben,
Zählt' er seine Städt' im Reich,
Gönnt' alles seinen Erben,
Den Becher nicht zugleich.
Er saß beim Königsmahle,
Die Ritter um ihn her,
Auf hohem Vätersaale,
Dort auf dem Schloß am Meer.
Dort Stand der alte Zecher,
Trank letzte Lebensglut,
Und warf den heiligen Becher
Hinunter in die Flut.
Er sah ihn stürzen, trinken
Und sinken tief ins Meer,
die Augen täten ihm sinken,
Trank nie einen Tropfen mehr.There was a king in Thule,
So faithful to the grave.
His love, when she was dying,
a goblet of gold him gave.
He used to love it deeply,
And always drank from it.
His eyes they filled with tears
Whenever he emptied it.
And when his time to die came
He counted all his wealth,
And everything gave to his heirs,
But only kept that cup.
He sat at the royal banquet,
With all his knights around,
In his forefathers' lofty hall
There in his castle by the sea.
There stood the old carouser,
And drank life's final glow,
Then threw the holy goblet far
Deep down into the waves.
He watched it fall, and drinking
it sank deep into the sea.
He closed his eyes forever,
And never drank a drop more.
Reception
The poem attained wide popularity, and was set to music by the following composers:
- Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff (1782)
- Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1809)
- Carl Friedrich Zelter (1812)
- Franz Schubert (1816), D 367 Song "Der König in Thule", Op. 5, Nr. 5
- Friedrich Silcher (1823)
- Hector Berlioz, Marguerite's aria in the opera La damnation de Faust ("Autrefois un roi de Thulé")
- Heinrich Marschner
- Franz Liszt (1843) in Buch der Lieder S. 531
- Robert Schumann op. 67, no. 1 (1849)
- Charles Gounod, Marguerite's aria in the 1859 opera Faust ("Il était un roi de Thulé")
- Jules Massenet, unperformed 1866 opera La coupe du roi de Thulé
- Hans von Bülow
- Hans Sommer (composer) (1920 or 1921)
- Faun (band) 2000's
- Grailknights on their 2008 album Alliance
References
- ^ Gero von Wilpert: Sachwörterbuch der Literatur. Stuttgart: Kröner, 2001. pp. 1012–1013 ISBN 3-520-23108-5.
External links
- "Der König in Thule", German text
- Es war ein König in Thule: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project. (for Zelter's musical setting)
- Text in German, English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish; comprehensive list of musical settings
Works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems Der Erlkönig · Ganymed · Gingo biloba · Heidenröslein · Hermann and Dorothea · Der König in Thule · Marienbad Elegy · Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt · Prometheus · Roman Elegies · The Sorcerer's Apprentice · West-östlicher DiwanPlays Clavigo · Faust · Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy · Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy · Egmont · Erwin und Elmire · Goetz von Berlichingen · Iphigenia in Tauris · The Natural Daughter · Torquato TassoProse Autobiographical works Journals Natural sciences Conversations BibliographyCategories:- Poetry by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- German poems
- Ballads
- 1774 poems
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