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by Johann Ludwig Tieck (1773 - 1853)
Translation © by Uri Liebrecht

Abend
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE
Wie ist es denn, daß trüb und schwer
So alles kömmt, vorüberzieht,
Und wechselnd, quälend, immer leer,
Das arme Herz in sich verglüht?

  Kaum gekommen
  Soll ich scheiden,
  Kaum entglommen
  Löschen wieder
  Alle Freuden,
  Und der Leiden
  Dunkle Wolke senkt sich nieder.

Aus den Lichtern in die Nacht,
Aus den Augen, die mir tagen,
Die mein ganzes Herz durchlacht,
Bin ich wieder allen Plagen,
  Dem dürren Leben
  Zurück gegeben.

[Wie flücht'ge Augenblicke
Mein Glücke!
Wie lange, lange Dauer
Der Trennung, düstre schwere Trauer! -
Zurück zu kehren
Und dich entbehren!]1

O als ich dich noch nicht gesehn,
Da durfte Sehnsucht bei mir seyn,
Ein Hoffnungswind in meinen Wünschen wehn,
Die Zukunft war ein heller Schein: 
Jetzt muß ich vom Erinnern kaufen,
Was ich kaum zerstreut empfand;
Wieder durch die wüsten Haufen,
Durch ein unbewohntes Land,
Soll ich irre, klagend, schweifen,
Und des Glückes goldne Streifen,
Auch die letzten, abgewandt.
Noch fühl' ich deine Hand,
Noch wie im Traume deine Küsse,
Noch folgen mir die holden Blicke,
Und die Emp[findung, daß ich alles misse,
Bleibt bei mir zurücke.

O Hoffen, Schmachten, Liebesleid und Sehnen,
Wie dürst' ich nach den süßen Thränen!
O tröste mich doch, eitles Wähnen,
So leer du bist, so todt, so nichtig!
Verlaßt ihr alle mich so flüchtig?

O Gegenwart, wie bist du schnell!
Vergangenheit, wie bist du klein!
O Zukunft, wie wirst du unendlich seyn?
Unendlich wie am Himmelsbogen
Die Sterne in die ew'gen Räume steigen,
So fühl' ich Stunden, Tage, Monden hergezogen,
Und durch mein tiefstes Seyn das trübe Schweigen,
Um mich ein unvergänglich Meer von schwarzen Wogen,
Und ach! kein grünes Ufer will sich zeigen!]1

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von L. Tieck. Erster Theil. Dresden bei P. G. Hilscher. 1821, pages 141-143; and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1802. Herausgegeben von A. W. Schlegel und L. Tieck. Tübingen, in der Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1802, pages 113-116.

Note: In the 1802 edition the poem is part of a cycle with the title Der Besuch consisting of four poems: I. Morgen, II. Mittag, III. Abend and IV. Nacht. In the 1821 edition the poems are no longer belonging together.

1 missing in Schubert's sketch

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Ludwig Tieck (1773 - 1853), "Abend", first published 1802 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Abend", D 645 (1819), published 1978 [ voice, piano ], note: fragment of a sketch; vocal line without text (apart from the first five words) and only some hints at the piano accompaniment. The text was adjusted to the vocal line by Dietrich Berke, a piano accompaniment was realized by Mark Brown. [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Capvespre", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Avond", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Evening", copyright ©
  • ENG English (Uri Liebrecht) , "Evening", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le soir", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 53
Word count: 271

Evening
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
How is it that, come what may,
Everything grim and difficult passes,
And tormented, restless, always empty,
My poor heart is burning itself out?

No sooner come, 
than I must go
And quench
once more
The glimmer of new joys
As the dark cloud 
of pain descends.

Away from the lights into darkness,
Away from the dawn which my eyes,
Filled with laughter from my heart,
Disclosed,
I am back to all the torments,
To all that barren life.







O, before I'd seen you,
I could entertain desire,
A wind of hope refreshed my longing,
And the future was a glowing vision.
Now I must raid my store of memories
For what I had enjoyed with scarce a thought.
Once more among the common herd,
Once more through uninhabited country
I must roam and grieve;
The golden strands of happiness
Stripped from me, even to the last.
Still I can feel your hand,
Still, as in a dream, your kiss,
Still , followed by your lovely eyes,
The feeling that all is lost
Remains.















Note: this is a translation of the completed Schubert version recorded by Hyperion.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 by Uri Liebrecht, (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.

    Uri Liebrecht.  Contact: liebrecht (AT) mypostoffice (DOT) co (DOT) uk

    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Ludwig Tieck (1773 - 1853), "Abend", first published 1802
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-20
Line count: 33
Word count: 174

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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

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