by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Nächtlicher Regen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CHI ENG
Bis in den Schlaf vernahm ich ihn
Und bin daran erwacht,
Nun hör ich ihn und fühle ihn,
Sein Rauschen füllt die Nacht
Mit tausend Stimmen feucht und kühl,
Geflüster, Lachen, Stöhnen,
Bezaubert lausch ich dem Gewühl
Von fließend weichen Tönen.

Nach all dem harten dürren Klang
Der strengen Sonnentage,
Wie innig ruft, wie selig-bang
Des Regens sanfte Klage!

So bricht aus einer stolzen Brust,
Wie spröde sie sich stelle,
Einmal des Schluchzens kindliche Lust,
Der Tränen liebe Quelle,
Und strömt und klagt und löst den Bann,
Daß das Verstummte reden kann,
Und öffnet neuem Glück und Leid
Den Weg und macht die Seele weit.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 320-321.


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "夜雨", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Night-time rain", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-04-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 105

Night‑time rain
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Until I dropped asleep I perceived [the night-time rain]
And I awoke because of it,
Now I hear it and I feel it,
Its rushing sound fills the night
With a thousand voices moist and cool,
Whisperings, laughter, moanings;
Enchanted, I listened to the tumult
Of flowing, soft sounds.

After all the hard arid sounds
Of the stern days of sun,
How intimately, how blissfully anxious
Calls the soft lamenting of the rain!

Thus breaks forth from a proud breast,
However capricious it acts,
One day the sobbing of child-like bliss,
The dear well-spring of tears,
And streams and laments and dissolves the enchantment,
So that what had become mute may speak,
And opens the way for new joys and sorrows
And makes the soul open wide.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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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This text was added to the website: 2014-04-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 127