In the forest, in the bright sunshine

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by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE

Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein
Wenn alle Knospen springen,
Da mag ich gerne mittendrein
Eins singen.

Wie mir zu Muth in Leid und Lust,
Im Wachen und im Träumen,
Das stimm' ich an aus voller Brust
Den Bäumen.

Und sie verstehen mich gar fein,
Die Blätter alle lauschen,
Und fall'n am rechten Orte ein,
Mit Rauschen.

Und weiter wandelt Schall und Hall,
In Wipfeln, Fels und Büschen.
Hell schmettert auch Frau Nachtigall
Dazwischen.

Da fühlt die Brust am eignen Klang,
Sie darf sich was erkühnen --
O frische Lust: Gesang! Gesang
Im Grünen!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Hensel • J. Raff • B. Randhartinger • J. Rosenhain • H. von Sahr • L. Thuille • H. Zöllner

H. Zöllner sets stanzas 1-2, 5
J. Rosenhain sets stanzas 1-5, 3

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel. Erste wohlfeile Ausgabe, Nijmegen, AE. Timmerman, 1846, pages 74-75. Modern German would change the spelling "Muth" -> "Mut"

Note: in Blumenthal's score there is a typo in stanza 2 line 3: word 4 is "gern" instead of "an".

Text Authorship:

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), no title, appears in Jugendgedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Lieder als Intermezzo, no. 31 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

This text was added to the website: 2006-11-01
Line count: 20
Word count: 95

In the forest, in the bright sunshine

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

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

In the forest, in the bright sunshine,
When all the buds spring forth,
There I would gladly in their midst
Be singing.

How I feel in sorrow and joy,
In waking and in dreaming,
I sing forth with a full heart
To the trees.

And they understand me full well,
The leaves all listen,
And join in at the right place
With rustling.

And sound and echo travel further 
In treetops, crag, and bushes,
Lady Nightingale also warbles brightly
In their midst.

There the heart feels from its own sound
That it may venture something —
O fresh joy:  Singing!  Singing
In the countryside.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of titles:
"Gesang im Grünen" = "Singing in the Countryside"
"Gesang im Grünen von Em. Geibel" = "Song in the Countryside by Em. Geibel"
"Im Grünen" = "IN the Countryside"
"Im Wald" = "In the Forest"
"Im Walde" = "In the Forest"
"Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein" = "In the forest, in the bright sunshine"
"Waldgesang" = "Forest Song"
"Waldlied" = "Forest Song"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Grant Hicks, (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 Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), no title, appears in Jugendgedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Lieder als Intermezzo, no. 31
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-08
Line count: 20
Word count: 106