Night has already opened

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by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Schon hat die Nacht den Silberschrein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Schon hat die Nacht den Silberschrein
Des Himmels aufgetan;
Nun spült der See den Widerschein
Zu dir, zu dir hinan!

Und in dem Glanze schaukelt sich
Ein leichter dunkler Kahn;
Der aber trägt und schaukelt mich
Zu dir, zu dir hinan!

Ich höre schon den Brunnen gehn
Dem Pförtlein nebenan,
Und dieses hat ein gütig Wehn
Von Osten aufgetan.

Das Sternlein schießt, vom Baume fällt
Das Blust in meinen Kahn;
Nach Liebe dürstet alle Welt,
Nun, Schifflein, leg' dich an!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• O. Schoeck • C. Sinding

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Confirmed with Gesammelte Gedichte von Gottfried Keller , Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz (Bessersche Buchhandlung), 1884, page 13.

Text Authorship:

by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), "Schifferliedchen", appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Buch der Natur, in Drei Ständchen, no. 3 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 83

Night has already opened

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

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Night has already opened
The silver shrine of heaven,
Now the lake swirls the reflection
Toward you, up to you!

And in the radiance, there rocks
A light, dark-coloured barque;
It, in turn, bears and rocks me 
Toward you, up to you!

I already hear the water-well rippling
Beside the little gate,
And a beneficent breeze from the east
Has opened the little gate.

The little star is shooting, from the tree
Blossoms fall into my barque;
All the world is thirsting for love,
Now, my little barque, come to your berth!

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Translations of title(s):
"Gondellied" = "Gondola song"
"Schifferlied" = "Sailor's song"
"Schifferliedchen" = "Sailor's song"
"Schifferliedchen (Ständchen)" = "Sailor's song (serenade)"
"Schifferständchen" = "Sailor's serenade"
"Ständchen" = "Serenade"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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 Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), "Schifferliedchen", appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Buch der Natur, in Drei Ständchen, no. 3
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This text was added to the website: 2024-05-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 93