August | It is so cold

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by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

August

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Es ist so kalt --
Geistergestalt
     Sitz' ich da.
Der Regen weint
Mit mir vereint,
     Fern und nah.

Die Sehnsucht blaut
Mir nah und vertraut
     Und bekannt.
Sie ist in mir
Und blickt zu dir
     Wie gebannt.

Von Tränen schwer
Gespenstisch leer
     Ist mein Blick.
Er sieht dich an
Voll Leid und kann
     Nicht zurück.

Confirmed with Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, Blütenlese. Gedichte, Herausgegeben von Adolf Rauchwerger, Tel Aviv: Telaviv University [Press], 1979, page 51.

Text Authorship:

by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942), "August", written 1941, appears in Blütenlese, in Der Blütenlese Erster Teil, in Nachtschatten [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 Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "August", copyright © 2019 [ soprano, viola d'amore and cello ], from Blossoms, no. 4, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "August", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-08-07
Line count: 18
Word count: 54

August

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

It is so cold --
[Like] a ghostly figure
     I sit.
The rain weeps
United with me,
     Far and near.

Yearning rises bluely
Close to me and familiar
     And well-known.
It is within me
And gazes over to you
     As if mesmerized.

Laden with tears
Eerily empty
    Is my gaze.
It looks at you
Full of sorrow and
     Cannot return.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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 Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942), "August", written 1941, appears in Blütenlese, in Der Blütenlese Erster Teil, in Nachtschatten
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-07-09
Line count: 18
Word count: 59