Clouded night | You my beloved, clouded night

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Verwölkte Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Mein Liebling du, verwölkte Nacht
Mit deinen sturmgepackten
Wipfeln, wie lodert so jäh die Pracht
Des Todes in deinen eiligen Takten!

Du Lied der Qual, du Lied des Leids,
Der Schauer und Todesgedanken,
Ich kenne wohl deiner heimwehkranken
Nachtweisen heimlich wilden Reiz!

Wie einst in meiner Knabenzeit
Füllst du mit dunklem Leid mein Herz.
Es ist der alte, wohlbekannte Schmerz
Von damals, ist das alte Leid,
Nur trauriger und ohne Süßigkeit.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., 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, page 63.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Verwölkte Nacht", written 1900, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in Irrwege, first published 1919 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Hermann Schmidt-Teich , "Verwölkte Nacht ", 1935-6 [ tenor and orchestra ], from Sechs Gedichte von Hermann Hesse für Tenorstimme mit Orchesterbegleitung, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Edward Staempfli (1908 - 2002), "Verwölkte Nacht", op. 6 no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Clouded night", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Nuit ennuagée", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-09-03
Line count: 13
Word count: 71

Clouded night

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

You my beloved, clouded night
With your treetops in the grasp of the storm,
How so suddenly flames the glory
Of death in your hasty beats!

You song of agony, you song of suffering,
Of shuddering and of thoughts of death,
I know well the secret wild allurement
Of your homesick night songs.

As you did in my boyhood,
You fill my heart with dark suffering.
It is the old, well known pain
Of past times, the old suffering,
Only more sad and without sweetness.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Verwölkte Nacht", written 1900, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in Irrwege, first published 1919
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-09-03
Line count: 13
Word count: 85