LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,109)
  • Text Authors (19,485)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942)
Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Die Zärtlichkeiten
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
Ich liebe jene ersten bangen Zärtlichkeiten,
die halb noch Frage sind und halb schon Anvertraum,
weil hinter ihnen schon die andern Stunden schreiten,
die sich wie Pfeiler wuchtend in das Leben baun.
Ein Duft sind sie; des Blutes flüchtigste Berührung,
ein rascher Blick, ein Lächeln, eine leise Hand -
sie knistern schon wie rote Funken der Verführung
und stürzen Feuergarben in der Nächte Brand.
Und sind doch seltsam süss, weil sie im Spiel gegeben
noch sanft und absichtslos und leise nur verwirrt,
wie Bäume, die dem Frühlingswind entgegenbeben,
der sie in seiner harten Faust zerbrechen wird.

Confirmed with Stefan Zweig, Gesammelte Werke. Ungeduld des Herzens, Schachnovelle, Brennendes Geheimnis, Marie Antoinette, Der Amokläufer, Maria Stuart, Sternstunden der Menschheit u.a., 2018, p. 2236.


Text Authorship:

  • by Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942), "Die Zärtlichkeiten" [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Die Zärtlichkeiten", 2006 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Caresses", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 95

Caresses
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
I love those first anxious, tender caresses,
coming in part after a question and in part after a beautiful dream,
because behind them the other hours stride,
that arise like a mighty pillar in life.
They are a scent, the blood's fleeting touch,
a quick glance, a smile, a light hand -
they rustle like red sparks of temptation
and plummet like burning sheaths in the next fire.
And all are of the same sweetness, because as in a mirror they are given
wholly gentle, and unintentional, and light only to confuse,
like trees, that turn towards trembling in the spring wind,
that will be broken in their hard fist.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Caresses", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942), "Die Zärtlichkeiten"
    • Go to the text page.

 
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 109

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has 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 help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris