Four Last Songs

Song Cycle by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949)

View original-language texts alone: Vier letzte Lieder

1. Frühling
 (Sung text)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
In dämmrigen Grüften
Träumte ich lang
Von deinen Bäumen und blauen Lüften,
Von deinem Duft und Vogelsang. 

Nun liegst du erschlossen
In Gleiß und Zier,
Von Licht übergossen
Wie ein Wunder vor mir. 

Du kennst mich wieder,
Du lockst mich zart,
Es zittert durch all meine Glieder
Deine selige Gegenwart.

Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Frühling", subtitle: "(1899)", written 1899

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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
1. Spring
Language: English 
 In dusky vaults
 I have long dreamt
 of your trees and blue skies,
 of your scents and the songs of birds.
 
 Now you lie revealed
 in glistening splendour,
 flushed with light,
 like a wonder before me.
 
 You know me again,
 you beckon tenderly to me;
 all of my limbs quiver
 from your blissful presence!

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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 54

Translation © by Emily Ezust
2. September
 (Sung text)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Der Garten trauert,
Kühl sinkt in die Blumen der Regen.
Der Sommer schauert
Still seinem Ende entgegen. 

Golden tropft Blatt um Blatt
Nieder vom hohen Akazienbaum.
Sommer lächelt erstaunt und matt
In den sterbenden Gartentraum. 

Lange noch bei den Rosen
Bleibt er stehen, sehnt sich nach Ruh.
Langsam tut er die großen
Müdgewordnen Augen zu.

Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "September", subtitle: "(1927)", written 1927

See other settings of this text.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 308.


by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
2. September
Language: English 
 The garden is mourning,
 the rain sinks coolly into the flowers.
 Summer shudders
 as it meets its end.
 
 Leaf upon leaf drops golden
 down from the lofty acacia.
 Summer smiles, astonished and weak,
 in the dying garden dream.
 
 For a while still by the roses
 it remains standing, yearning for peace.
 Slowly it closes its large
 eyes grown weary.

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.


Based on:

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 59

Translation © by Emily Ezust
3. Beim Schlafengehen
 (Sung text)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Nun der Tag mich müd gemacht,
Soll mein sehnliches Verlangen
Freundlich die gestirnte Nacht
Wie ein müdes Kind empfangen. 

Hände, laßt von allem Tun,
Stirn vergiß du alles Denken,
Alle meine Sinne nun
Wollen sich in Schlummer senken. 

Und die Seele unbewacht
Will in freien Flügen schweben,
Um im Zauberkreis der Nacht
Tief und tausendfach zu leben.

Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Beim Schlafengehen", written 1911, first published 1911?

See other settings of this text.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
3. While going to sleep
Language: English 
Now that the day has made me so tired,
my dearest longings shall
be accepted kindly by the starry night
like a weary child.

Hands, cease your activity,
head, forget all of your thoughts;
all my senses now
will sink into slumber.

And my soul, unobserved,
will float about on untrammeled wings
in the enchanted circle of the night,
living a thousandfold more deeply.

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.


Based on:

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 64

Translation © by Emily Ezust
4. Im Abendrot
 (Sung text)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wir sind durch Not und Freude
Gegangen Hand in Hand,
Vom Wandern ruhen wir
Nun überm stillen Land.

Rings sich die Thäler neigen,
Es dunkelt schon die Luft,
Zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
Nachträumend in den Duft.

Tritt her, und laß sie schwirren,
Bald ist es Schlafenszeit,
Daß wir uns nicht verirren
In dieser Einsamkeit.

O weiter stiller Friede!
So tief im Abendrot,
Wie sind wir wandermüde -- 
Ist dies etwa der Tod?

Text Authorship:

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Note: Modern spelling would change "Thäler" to "Täler"

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
4. In the twilight
Language: English 
Through adversity and joy 
We've gone hand in hand;
We rest now from our wanderings
Upon this quiet land.

Around us slope the valleys,
The skies grow dark;
Two larks alone are just climbing,
As if after a dream, into the scented air.

Come here and let them whir past,
For it will soon be time to rest;
We do not wish to get lost
In this solitude.

O wide, quiet peace, 
So deep in the red dusk...
How weary we are of our travels --
Is this perhaps - Death? --

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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.


Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2013-12-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 90

Translation © by Emily Ezust