In the woods by the stream | In the woods by the stream

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by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875)

Translation © by Djordje Nesic, Hannah Sharene Penn

Zde v lese u potoka

Language: Czech (Čeština)

Our translations: ENG ENG

Zde v lese u potoka 
Já stojím sám a sám;
A ve potoka vlny
V myšlenkách pozírám.

Tu vidím starý kámen,
Nad nímž se vlny dmou;
Ten kámen [vstoupa]¹, padá
Bez klidu pod vlnou.

A proud se oň opírá,
Až kámen zvrhne se:
Kdy vlna života mne 
Se světa odnese?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Dvořák • A. Dvořák

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Confirmed with Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických od Gustava Pflegera (Moravského), V Praze (Prague) : Nákladem knihkupectvi: I. L. Kober, 1862, page 68.

¹ Dvořák: "stoupá" (Bärenreiter, 2003)

Text Authorship:

by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875), no title, appears in Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických, in 1. Dozvuky lyrické, in 2. Písně, no. 14 [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 Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Zde v lese u potoka", B. 11 no. 14 (1865) [ voice and piano ], from Cypřiše, no. 14 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Zde v lese u potoka", op. 83 no. 6, from Písně milostné, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Djordje Nesic) (Hannah Sharene Penn) , "In the woods by the stream", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Patrick John Corness) , "By a brook in the forest", copyright © 2023, (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: 52

In the woods by the stream

Language: English after the Czech (Čeština)

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In the woods by the stream
I stand all alone,
And lost in my thoughts
I gaze into the stream's eddy.

There I see an old stone,
Over which the water rolls.
And that stone beneath the waves,
Always rises and falls.

The stone battles the waves,
And finally overturns.
When will the waves of life finally
Sweep me away from this world?

Text Authorship:

Translation from Czech (Čeština) to English copyright © 2006 by Djordje Nesic and Hannah Sharene Penn, (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 Czech (Čeština) by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875), no title, appears in Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických, in 1. Dozvuky lyrické, in 2. Písně, no. 14
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-03-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 63