Oh, how beautifully out of the night of the firs

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.

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

O wie schön aus der Tannen Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  O wie schön aus der Tannen Nacht
Blitzest, mein Bach, du, im Demantschein; 
Stürzest weiter in silberner Pracht, 
Denkst nicht der Blumen am Felsgestein! -- 
  Ach! was sollen die Blumen mir?
Finde nicht Ruhe da oben hier!
Drunten allein der tiefe See,
Der verstehet mein ewges Weh! 

  Fort und fort, wie donnert's mit Macht,
Horch! und wie rauscht und braust es so laut! 
Droben, mein Bach, in der Tannen Nacht,
Freust du dich nimmer der Stille traut? -- 
  Mögen die Blumen erzittern bang,
Laßt, o laßt mir den Klaggesang!
Drunten allein im tiefen See,
Mag ich stillen mein ewges Weh!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• B. Randhartinger

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Deutsche Dichter-Gaben: eine Sammlung bisher ungedruckter Gedichte der namhaftesten deutschen Dichter, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1868, page 35.

Also confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 93.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Am Gießbach", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 103 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Go to the general view

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Melanie Trumbull , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2017-10-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 100

Oh, how beautifully out of the night of...

NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Oh, how beautifully out of the night of the firs
You, my brook, flash like lightning in the radiance of diamonds;
You plunge on in silver splendour,
Thinking not of the flowers by the rocky crags! --
  Ah! what do I want with flowers?
I cannot find rest up here!
Only the deep lake down below,
It understands my eternal pain!

  On and on, how it thunders mightily,
Hark! and how it rushes and surges so loudly!
Up above, my brook, in the night of the firs,
Do you never delight in sweet silence? --
  May the flowers tremble anxiously,
Leave me, oh leave me my song of lament!
Only in the deep lake down below
May I allay my eternal pain!

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of titles:
"Am Gießbach" = "At the mountain torrent"
"Am Piessbach" = "At the Piess brook"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Am Gießbach", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 103
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 122