Canterbury bells, why do you toll?

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by Julius Wolff (1834 - 1910)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Glockenblumen, was läutet ihr?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Glockenblumen, was läutet ihr?
Wer ist im Walde gestorben?
Oder wißt ihr, daß heimlich hier
Liebe um Liebe geworben?

Wißt ihr's, wohin auf dem einsamen Gang
Schritt und Gedanken mir streben?
Glocken, ich höre nicht euren Klang,
Seh' euch nur schwingen und schweben.

Lauschenden Blättern denn läutet es aus,
Klinget wie Harfen und Psalmen,
Meldet's im Grünen von Haus zu Haus
Bäumen und Büschen und Halmen.

Liebe macht selig wie nichts in der Welt,
Lachen könnt' ich und weinen,
Glücklichste ich unterm Himmelszelt,
Blumen, -- ich liebe Einen!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• L. Greger

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Confirmed with Der wilde Jäger. Eine Waidmannsmär von Julius Wolff, Berlin: G. Grote’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1889, page 67.

Text Authorship:

by Julius Wolff (1834 - 1910), no title, appears in Der wilde Jäger: Eine Waidmannsmär, first published 1877 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 91

Canterbury bells, why do you toll?

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Canterbury bells, why do you toll?
Who has died in the forest?
Or do you know that secretly here
Love wooed love?

Do you know whither on the solitary walk
My steps and thoughts are striving?
Bells, I do not hear your sound,
I only see you swinging and swaying.

Ring it out to the listening leaves,
Resound like harps and psalms,
Proclaim it in the greenery from house to house
To trees and bushes and grass blades.

Love makes one happy like nothing else in the world,
I could laugh and weep,
I am the happiest under the canopy of heaven,
Flowers, -- I love Someone!

About the headline (FAQ)

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Translated titles:
"Glockenblumen, was läutet ihr?" = "Canterbury bells, why do you toll?"
"Waldtrauts Lied" = "Waldtraut’s Song"
"Glockenblumen" = "Canterbury bells"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Julius Wolff (1834 - 1910), no title, appears in Der wilde Jäger: Eine Waidmannsmär, first published 1877
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2014-12-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 110