LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,109)
  • Text Authors (19,482)
  • 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.

from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
Translation © by Linda Godry

Marias Lob
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  DUT ENG FRE ITA SPA
Maria, wahre Himmelsfreud',
der Welt Ergötzlichkeit!
Wer wollt' dich nicht lieben?
Du stehst mir geschrieben,
ja mir gegraben
mit tiefen Buchstaben
in meinem Herzelein!

Wie schmelzet ein Karfunkelstein
im Lorbeerkränzelein,
so geht es mir eben,
mein' Seel' und mein Leben
vor Lieb' sich zertrennen
und in sich verbrennen
bei deinem Nennen!

Der ganzen Schöpfung reiche Zier
vergleicht sich nicht mit dir.
Es dürfen die Blumen
ihr' Schönheit nicht rühmen,
sie müssen sich schämen,
du tuest benehmen
all' ihre Zierlichkeit.

Des Himmels Sternenangesicht
und aller Sonnen Licht,
samt Edelgesteinen,
sie dürfen nicht scheinen,
die Perlen, Korallen,
Gold, Silber, sie fallen
vor dir in Finsternis.

Maria, o mein' höchste Freud',
die Welt ist mir verleidt,
ich suche zu sterben;
du woll'st mir erwerben
nur Gottes Gnaden,
auf höheren Pfaden
so scheid' ich fröhlich hin.

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn [author's text not yet checked 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Marias Lob", op. 22 no. 7 (1859), published 1862 [ mixed chorus ], from Marienlieder, no. 7, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Lof van Maria", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Linda Godry) , "Praised be Mary", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Louange à Marie", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Giovanni Duci) , "Lode a Maria", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfonso Sebastián) , "Alabanza a María", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 132

Praised be Mary
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Mary, true friend of heaven,
The world's delight!
Who could but love you?
Your name is written,
No, engraved, 
with deep lines
in my heart!

As a gemstone melts
In the laurel wreath,
So are my very
Soul and body
So full of love
They burst into pieces
And burn in your name!

Creation in all its splendour
Pales in comparison to you.
Your beauty shames
The flower's blossoms
Who look plump 
compared to 
your frailness.

The star-spangled night sky
And the combined light of all the suns,
And precious stones,
Can not outshine thee,
The pearls, corals,
Gold, and silver dull
Compared to you.

Mary, my heart's delight,
The world means nothing to me,
And I wish to die;
If you, only you, ask for God's grace
For my safe ramble
On heavenly paths
I will leave here with joyous heart.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Linda Godry, (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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2009-07-26
Line count: 35
Word count: 142

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