August | And once more it is autumn, and asters in the wind

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by Franz Ulbrich (1885 - 1950)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

August

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Und wieder Herbst und Astern im Wind,
Herbstzeitlosen auf feuchten Wiesen,
Silberne Fäden wehen und fließen,
Reife Wehmut sonnt sich und sinnt;
Sinnt zurück über welkende Jahre,
Sinnt voraus über Ernte und Ende,
Und die müden Gedanken und Hände
Falten sich über die eigene Bahre.

Rückwärts den Blick, wie macht er erschlaffen!
Vorwärts die Kraft! das stärkt dich und hebt 
Über dich selbst und was in dir lebt
Hin zu neuem Ernten und Schaffen.
Und so lang mich wanderbereit,
Gottes Augen taghell berufen,
Will ich, bis an das Ende der Zeit,
Freudig erklimmen die letzten Stufen.

Text Authorship:

by Franz Ulbrich (1885 - 1950) [author's text not yet checked 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 Joseph Haas (1879 - 1960), "August", op. 92 (Lieder der Reife und Ernte) no. 5, published 1940 [ voice and piano ], Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne, 1941 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "August", 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: 2009-02-25
Line count: 16
Word count: 96

August

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

And once more [it is] autumn, and asters in the wind,
Autumn crocuses upon damp meadows,
Silver threads blow and flow,
Ripe melancholy suns itself and ponders;
Thinks back upon withering years,
Thinks forward to harvest and ending,
And the weary thoughts and hands
Fold themselves over their own bier.

The backward gaze, how fatiguing it is!
[Directing your] power forward! that strengthens you and lifts
[You] over yourself, and that which lives within you
Toward new harvests and labours.
And as long as God’s eyes in the clarity of daylight
Call me, who am ready to wander,
I shall, unto the end of time,
Gladly climb the last steps.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Franz Ulbrich (1885 - 1950)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-08-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 110