The hour of parting | I would dearly love to put back the clock!

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by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Abschiedsstunde

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich stellte gern die Uhr zurück!
Die Zeiger machen hastend ihr Runde --
Wir aber haben nur die eine Stunde,
Dann mußt du gehn, und mit dir geht das Glück!

Wie leer wirds dann in meinem Stübchen sein!
Die Frühlingssturm wird an die Fenster klopfen,
Die Winternebel von den Scheiben tropfen --
Und immer bin ich einsam und allein!

So sieh mich an, so liebevoll und still!
Kein Abschiedsschmerz darf mir das Bild verwischen,
Nach Jahren noch soll's mir das Herz erfrischen --
Ich weiß ja nicht, wie ich's sonst tragen will.

Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, Fünfte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 103.

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Abschiedsstunde", appears in Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, in 4. Fremdes Leben, no. 23 [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 Pieter Molenbroek , "Abschiedsstunde", published 1929 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder nach Gedichten von Anna Ritter, no. 2, München: Halbreiter [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The hour of parting", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 89

The hour of parting

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I would dearly love to put back the clock!
The hands are hastening in their rounds --
But we have only this one hour,
Then you must go, and happiness shall go with you!

How empty my chamber shall be then!
The springtime storm shall knock at the windows,
The winter mists shall drip from the panes --
And I shall ever be lonely and alone!

Therefore gaze at me so lovingly and quietly!
No pain of parting must blur your image for me,
When years have passed, it shall still refresh my heart --
Otherwise, I do not know, how I am to bear it.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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 Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Abschiedsstunde", appears in Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, in 4. Fremdes Leben, no. 23
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 103