Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn | Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn

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by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Shall I come, sweet love?

Language: English

Our translations: GER

Shall I come, sweet love, to thee
  When the evening beams are set?
Shall I not excluded be?
  Will you find no feignèd let?
Let me not, for pity, more
Tell the long hours at your door.

Who can tell what thief or foe
  In the covert of the night
For his prey will work my woe,
  Or through wicked foul despite?
So may I die unredressed,
Ere my long love be possessed.

But to let such dangers pass,
  Which a lover's thoughts disdain,
'Tis enough in such a place
  To attend Love's joys in vain.
Do not mock me in thy bed,
While these cold nights freeze me dead.

Text Authorship:

by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Shall I come, sweet love?", published 1617 [ voice and lute or piano ], from The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres - The Third Booke, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Verstimmtes Ständchen", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 110

Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn,
bei des Lichtes letztem Schein?
Werd' ich vor der Türe stehn?
Lässt ein Vorwand mich nicht ein?
Lass mich nicht - erbarm Dich mir -
Stunden stehn vor Deiner Tür.

Weiß ich, welcher arge Dieb
sich im Schutz der finstren Nacht
mir zum Leide sich mein Lieb
voller List zur Beute macht?
Besser sei's, im Grab versenkt,
eh ein Andrer Dich umfängt.

Dass solch' Fährnis ziehe fort,
die ein Liebender veracht',
ist's genug, wenn solch ein Ort
Liebesmüh vergebens macht.
Spott' in Deinem Bett nicht mir,
derweil ich zu Tode frier.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-09
Line count: 18
Word count: 95