by Gustav Pfarrius (1800 - 1884)
Translation © by John H. Campbell

Mein Lieb' ist das Bächlein
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG ENG
  Mein Lieb' ist das Bächlein,
Das Bächlein im Wald,
Es sprudelt durch Schatten
[Durch]1 Sonnenschein bald;

  Und schau' ich vom Ufer 
In's Wasser hinein, 
Kein Spiegel kann klarer, 
Kann reiner nicht sein; 

  Steh' fern ich am Hügel, 
Winkt's immer noch hold,
Blitzt hell durch die Büsche,
Wie Silber und Gold;

  Und wird's meinem Auge 
Vom Laub noch verhüllt, 
So hör' ich wie's [drunter]2
Seinen Eimer noch füllt;

  Dann tönt's aus dem Dunkel 
So treu an mein Ohr, 
Und plaudert von Sehnsucht 
Und Heimweh mir vor.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Deutsche Dichterhalle des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, von Dr. J. Schenkel. Nach dessen Tode neu bearbeitet und vermehrt von Dr. F.C. Paldamus, Zweiter Band, Mainz: Verlag von C.F. Kunze, 1856, page 469

1 Vagedes: "Und"
2 Vagedes: "drunten"

Text Authorship:

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

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

  • ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "The brooklet is my devotion", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "My love is the brooklet", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: John H. Campbell , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 88

The brooklet is my devotion
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
My devotion is the brooklet, 
the little brook in the forest, 
it bubbles through shadows 
and sunshine,

and I look into the water 
from the bank,
no mirror can be clearer, 
cannot be more pure;

as I look from a distant hill, 
its beauty still beckons me,
flashing brightly through the bushes 
like silver and gold,

and when my view is screened 
by the foliage,
still I can hear its splashing 
like filling a pail;

then sounds from the darkness 
so faithfully in my ear,
and whispering to me of longing 
and homesickness.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by John H. Campbell, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 93