A frost descended in the springtime night

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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht 
wohl über die schöne Blaublümelein,
sie sind verwelket, verdorret.

Ein Knabe hatt' ein Mägdlein lieb, 
sie liefen heimlich von Hause fort,
es wußt's nicht Vater, noch Mutter.

Sie liefen weit ins fremde Land,
sie hatten weder Glück, noch Stern,
sie sind verdorben, gestorben.

Auf ihrem Grab Blaublümlein blühn,
Umschlingen sich treu, wie sie im Grab,
Der Reif sie nicht welket, nicht dörret.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Knab • W. Petersen • W. Petersen • J. Rheinberger

A. Knab sets stanzas 1-3
W. Petersen sets stanzas 1-3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
W. Petersen sets stanzas 1-3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

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See also Backer-Grøndahl's song, which uses some of this text.

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Blaublümelein", collected by Arnim and Brentano [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 77

A frost descended in the springtime...

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

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A frost descended in the springtime night,
It fell upon the lovely little blue flowers,
They wilted, they withered.

A lad loved a maiden;
They fled secretly from their home,
Neither father nor mother knew it.

They ran far into a foreign land,
They had neither good fortune nor a guiding star,
They perished, they died.

Upon their grave grow little blue flowers
That embrace each other faithfully, as do the two in the grave,
The frost does not wilt them, does not wither them.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of title(s):
"Blaublümelein" = "Little blue flowers"
"Der Reif" = "The frost"
"Es fiel ein Reif" = "A frost descended"
"Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht" = "A frost descended in the springtime night"
"Kein Glück noch Stern" = "Neither good fortune nor a guiding star"
"Volkslied" = "Folksong"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Blaublümelein", collected by Arnim and Brentano
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2022-08-31
Line count: 12
Word count: 90