Grabgesang | Göttin vergib, vergib, o Nacht

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

O Déesse, ô nuit, pardonne aux méchants

Language: French (Français) after the English

Our translations: GER

O Déesse, ô nuit, pardonne aux méchants
Qui troublés par la calomnie
Ont tué ta vierge bénie.
Ils font retentir leurs funèbres chants
Autour de la tombe honorée
Où dort sa dépouille sacrée.
Mêle à nos sanglots un gémissement
Ah ! Déplore, ô nuit, sa fin cruelle ;
Aide nous à pleurer sur elle
Amèrement
Laissez vos morts surgir, vous, sépulcres avides
Demeurez vides pour un moment
Tandis que ce lugubre thrène
Sous les arceaux monte
Plaintivement, Ah!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929), no title, appears in Chansons de Shakespeare, Éd. Léon Chailley, first published 1896 [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Much Ado About Nothing, Act V, Scene 2
- Go to the text page.

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

by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "Chant funèbre", op. 28 no. 4 (1897), published 1914 [four-part women's chorus and piano], Paris, Édition Mutuelle [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (Thomas Gwynn Jones) , "Chant funèbre", first published 1914
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Grabgesang", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 76

Grabgesang

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

Göttin vergib, vergib, o Nacht,
den Schurken, die verleumderisch verwirrt
deiner gepriesenen Jungfrau den Tod gebracht.
Sie lassen ihren Grabgesang erschallen
rund um das Ehrengrab,
wo ihr geweihter Leichnam ruht.
Webe in unser Schluchzen eine Klage ein -
ach! Beklag’, o Nacht, ihr grausam’ End’;
stehe uns bei, sie bitterlich zu beweinen.
Lasst eure Toten auferstehen, ihr Gräber voller Gier,
bleibt leer für einen Augenblick,
indessen unser düstres Trauerlied
wehklagend sich 
erhebt in der gewölbten Gruft, ach!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929), no title, appears in Chansons de Shakespeare, Éd. Léon Chailley, first published 1896 [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Much Ado About Nothing, Act V, Scene 2
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-07-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 76