Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen

Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen,
In diesem Hause wohnte mein Schatz;
Sie hat schon längst die Stadt verlassen,
Doch steht noch das Haus auf demselben Platz.

Da steht auch ein Mensch und starrt in die Höhe,
Und ringt die Hände, vor Schmerzensgewalt;
Mir graust es, wenn ich sein Antlitz sehe, -
Der Mond zeigt mir meine eigne Gestalt.

Du [Doppeltgänger]1! du bleicher Geselle!
Was äffst du nach mein Liebesleid,
Das mich gequält auf dieser Stelle,
So manche Nacht, in alter Zeit?

Translation(s): CAT DUT ENG ENG ENG ENG FIN FRE ITA KOR NOR SPA

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Buch der Lieder von H. Heine. Hamburg bei Hoffmann und Campe. 1827, page 198; and with Reisebilder von H. Heine. Erster Theil. Hamburg, bey Hoffmann und Campe. 1826, page 24.

Authorship

• by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1823-24, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 20, first published 1826 [ author's text checked 2 times]

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

• by Anton Eberhardt (1855 - 1922), "Der Doppelgänger", op. 16 (Drei Lieder) no. 2. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Philipp, Fürst zu Eulenburg-Hertefeld (1847 - 1921), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Der Doppelgänger", 2014. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Alfred Heller (b. 1931), "Der Doppelgänger", published c1988. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Hans Heinrich XIV, Graf Bolko von Hochberg (1843 - 1926), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", op. 17 (Drei Lieder (Heine, Lenau, Geibel)) no. 1. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Nikolay Ivanovich Kazanli (1869 - 1916), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", published 1899 [voice and piano], from [Vier] Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, München, Schmid Nachf [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Reinbert de Leeuw (b. 1938), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", published 2003? [voice and instrumental ensemble], from Im wunderschönen Monat Mai : dreimal sieben Lieder nach Schumann und Schubert, no. 15. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Rudolph, Fürst von Lichtenstein , "Venedigs Gondolier", op. 4 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1879 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Kahnt [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801 - 1878), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", from Sånger och visor, no. 8. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by (Wilhelm) Bernhard Molique (1802 - 1869), "Der Doppelgänger", op. 34 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor)) no. 5, published 1848 [soprano or tenor and piano], Stuttgart, Müller ; note: titled "Venedigs Gondolier" in Hofmeister [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Thorvald Otterström (1868 - 1942), "Der Doppelgänger", published 1907, from Neun Lieder, no. 4. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by C. B. Rummer , "Der Doppelgänger", from Drei Lieder, no. 3. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Doppelgänger", D. 957 no. 13 (1828), published 1829 [voice and piano], from Schwanengesang, no. 13. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by F. Sprenkel , "Klage", op. 7 (Vier Lieder) no. 1. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Der Doppelgänger", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 20. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El doble", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lau Kanen) , "De dubbelganger", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Michael P. Rosewall) , "Nemesis", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Fredric Kroll) , "The double", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Leon Malinofsky) , "The Spirit Double", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, pages 94-95, first published 1887
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le Sosie", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il sosia", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "그림자", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen

The quiet night broods over roof-tree and steeple;
  Within this house dwelt my treasure rare;
'Tis long since she left this town and its people,
  But the house stands still on the self-same square.

Here stands, too, a man; toward heaven he gazes,
  And he wrings his hands with a wild despair;
I shudder with awe when his face he raises,--
  For the moonlight shows mine own self there.

Oh, pale sad creature! my ghost, my double,
  Why dost thou ape my passion and tears,
That haunted me here with such cruel trouble,
  So many a night in the olden years?

Submitted by Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

Authorship

• by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, pages 94-95, first published 1887 [ author's text checked 1 time]

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1823-24, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 20, first published 1826 CAT DUT FIN FRE ITA KOR NOR SPA
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Anton Eberhardt, Philipp, Fürst zu Eulenburg-Hertefeld, Richard Farber, Alfred Heller, Hans Heinrich XIV, Graf Bolko von Hochberg, Nikolay Ivanovich Kazanli, Reinbert de Leeuw, Rudolph, Fürst von Lichtenstein, Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, Bernhard Molique, Thorvald Otterström, C. B. Rummer, Franz Peter Schubert, F. Sprenkel, Johann Vesque von Püttlingen. Go to the text.

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

[ None yet in the database ]

Text added to the website: 2008-04-18.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:40
Line count: 12
Word count: 101