Yes, if I had a true love, lonely now | Yes, if I had a true love, lonely now

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by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890)

Translation © by Martin Stock

Ja, hätt' ich ein verlassnes Liebchen nun

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Ja, hätt' ich ein verlaßnes Liebchen nun,
Das vor dem Morgenrot zu klagen käme,
Auf meinem frischen Pfühle auszuruhn,
Und meinen Ruf mit süßem Graun vernähme!

Warum hab ich der einen nicht gesagt,
Daß junge Liebe mir im Herzen sprosse?
Ich zauderte und hab es nicht gewagt -
Die Krankheit kam und diese tolle Posse!

Wenn einsam sie vielleicht und ungeliebt,
Nachdenklich manchmal ihre Augen senkt,
O wüßte sie dann, daß ein Herz es gibt,
Das, unterm Rasen schlagend, an sie denkt!

Text Authorship:

by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Lebendig begraben, no. 10 [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 Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Ja, hätt' ich ein verlassnes Liebchen nun", op. 40 no. 10 (1926) [bass or baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra], from Lebendig begraben: 14 Gesänge nach der gleichnamigen Gedichtfolge von Gottfried Keller, no. 10, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (Martin Stock) , title 1: "Yes, if I had a true love, lonely now", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Oui, si seulement j'avais laissé une petite amoureuse", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 81

Yes, if I had a true love, lonely now

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Yes, if I had a true love, lonely now,
Who, before dawn, would come along to mourn,
To rest upon my freshly made bed,
Hearing, in sweet terror, my calling out!

Why didn't I tell the one girl
That young love was blossoming in my heart?
I was shy and did not dare do it -
Then illness came and brought along this morbid joke!

If, lonesome and unloved, perhaps
She sometimes lowers her lids and thinks about it -
Oh, would she know, that there's a heart,
That beats beneath the lawn and thinks of her!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2004 by Martin Stock, (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 Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Lebendig begraben, no. 10
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 95