Those were beautiful days | Those were beautiful days

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by Günther Walling (1839 - 1896), as Karl Ulrici

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Es waren schöne Tage

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Es waren schöne Tage,
Als ich gekommen im Mai, 
Nun rauscht wie bange Klage
Des Herbstwinds Ruf: "Vorbei!" 

Die heitren Töne verklangen,
Das Korn ist längst gemäht,
Am Boden kriechen Schlangen,
Die Blumen welkten im Beet.

Und von den hundert Blättern
Der Rose ist keins mehr zu sehn,
Es blieben in Herbsteswettern
Nur Dornen am Strauche stehn.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Günther Walling (Carl Ulrici), Von Lenz zu Herbst. Dichtungen, Zweite vielfach veränderte Auflage, Leipzig und Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Friedrich, 1887, page 22.

Text Authorship:

by Günther Walling (1839 - 1896), as Karl Ulrici, no title, appears in Von Lenz zu Herbst: Dichtungen, in 1. Lieder, in Lieder aus Sevilla, no. 12 [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 Jean Louis Nicodé (1853 - 1919), "Es waren schöne Tage", op. 30 no. 7, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Dem Andenken an Amarantha. Ein Liedercyklus für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 7, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Those were beautiful days", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 57

Those were beautiful days

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Those were beautiful days,
When I came in May,
Now like an anxious lament
The autumn wind's cry sounds: "Past!"

The merry sounds have died away,
The wheat has long been mown,
Snakes crawl upon the ground,
The flowers have wilted in the bed.

And of the hundred petals
Of the rose, none is to be seen any longer,
In the storms of autumn
Only thorns have remained upon the bushes.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 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 Günther Walling (1839 - 1896), as Karl Ulrici, no title, appears in Von Lenz zu Herbst: Dichtungen, in 1. Lieder, in Lieder aus Sevilla, no. 12
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-05-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 71