Twilight sank from high above

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Dämmrung senkte sich von oben

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE SPA

Dämmrung senkte sich von oben,
Schon ist alle Nähe fern;
Doch zuerst emporgehoben
Holden Lichts der Abendstern!
Alles schwankt in's Ungewisse,
Nebel schleichen in die Höh';
Schwarzvertiefte Finsternisse
Widerspiegelnd ruht der See.

[Nun]¹ [am]² östlichen Bereiche
Ahn' ich Mondenglanz und Gluth,
Schlanker Weiden Haargezweige
Scherzen auf der nächsten Fluth.
Durch bewegter Schatten Spiele
Zittert Luna's Zauberschein,
Und durch's Auge [schleicht]³ die Kühle
Sänftigend in's Herz hinein.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Diepenbrock • J. Grimm

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke Stuttgart und Tübingen, Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1833, Band 47, page 52. Note: modern spelling would change "Gluth" to "Glut" and "Fluth" to "Flut".

¹ Diepenbrock: "Dort,"
² some recent editions of Goethe's work have "im"
³ Grimm: "zieht"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, appears in Chinesisch-deutsche Jahres- und Tageszeiten, no. 8 [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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 59 (Acht Lieder und Gesänge) no. 1 (1871), published 1880 [ low voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Dämmrung", 1884 [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Albert Hermann Dietrich (1829 - 1908), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 12 (Fünf Lieder von Goethe) no. 4, published 1861 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Otto Grimm (1827 - 1903), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 18 (Sechs Lieder und Gesänge) no. 3, published 1873 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", 1843 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Konrad Heubner (1860 - 1905), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 2 (Sechs Lieder von Goethe für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 6, published 1883 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text not yet checked]
by Gideon Klein (1919 - 1945), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 1 no. 3 (1940) [ high voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder = Tři písně, no. 3, also set in Czech (Čeština) [sung text not yet checked]
by Hermann (Ernst?) Levi (1839 - 1900), "Dämm'rung senkte sich von oben", published 1899 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Drei Gedichte von Goethe für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 3, München, Halbreiter [sung text not yet checked]
by Arnold Mendelssohn (1855 - 1933), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, no. 24, Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
by Wolfgang Michael Rihm (1952 - 2024), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", 2004-7, first performed 2007 [ baritone and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Dämmrung senkte sich von oben", op. 19a no. 2 (1909-14) [ voice and piano ], from Lieder nach Gedichten von Goethe, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation by Erich Adolf Saudek (1904 - 1963) , copyright © ; composed by Gideon Klein.
- Go to the text.

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

ENG English [singable] (Florence T. Jameson) , "Twilight from above has fallen"
FRE French (Français) [singable] (Frieda Boutarel) (Amédée Boutarel) , "L'ombre tombe lente et pâle"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 69

Twilight sank from high above

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Twilight sank from high above;
All that was near already is far,
Yet first is raised high
The fair light of the evening star!
Everything shakes with uncertainty,
A mist creeps slowly upward;
Darkness steeped in black
is reflected calmly in the sea.

Now in eastern areas
I feel the moon's brightness and glow,
Hair-like branches of slender willows
Play on the nearest tide.
Through the play of moving shadows
trembles Luna's magical shine,
And through my eyes creeps the cool air,
gently in toward my heart.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, appears in Chinesisch-deutsche Jahres- und Tageszeiten, no. 8
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87