Don't you hear the trees rustling

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by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Hörst du nicht die Bäume rauschen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: DUT ENG ENG FRE ITA

Hörst du nicht die Bäume rauschen
Draußen durch die stille Rund?
Lockts dich nicht, hinabzulauschen
Von dem Söller in den Grund,
Wo die vielen Bäche gehen
Wunderbar im Mondenschein
Und die stillen Schlösser sehen
In den Fluß vom hohen Stein?

Kennst du noch die irren Lieder
Aus der alten, schönen Zeit?
Sie erwachen alle wieder
Nachts in Waldeseinsamkeit,
Wenn die Bäume träumend lauschen
Und der Flieder duftet schwül
Und im Fluß die Nixen rauschen -
Komm herab, hier ist's so kühl.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Hensel • H. Pfitzner

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Text Authorship:

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Lockung", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Sängerleben [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Jakob Kellner , Johann Winkler , Robin Tam

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

Don't you hear the trees rustling

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Don't you hear the trees rustling
Outside through the surrounding stillness?
Aren‘t you tempted to listen
Down from the balcony to the ground,
Where the many streams flow
Wondrously in the moonlight,
And the quiet castles look
Into the river from the high rock?

Do you still remember the mad songs
Of the beautiful olden days?
They all come awake again
At night in the solitude of the forest,
When the dreaming trees listen
And the lilac gives out a sensuous perfume
And in the river the water-sprites murmur,
"Come down, it's so cool here.”

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Translations of titles:
"Gesang der Wasserfrauen" = "Song of the Mermaids"
"Hörst du nicht die Bäume rauschen" = "Don't you hear the trees rustling"
"Lockung" = "Temptation"
"Nachtgesang" = "Night Song"
"Schwüle Nächte" = "Sultry Nights"

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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Lockung", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Sängerleben
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This text was added to the website: 2025-07-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 97