Greeting of the flowers | The flowers greet me along the road

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by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Blumen grüßen mich am Wege

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Die Blumen grüßen mich am Wege,
Die du so liebst.  Sie rufen mir,
Daß ich sie pflücke und sie pflege,
Daß ich sie küss' und sende dir.

Und wie ich sie vom Busch will brechen,
Da kommt mich's an, daß ich's nicht kann. 
Sie fangen solch ein süßes Sprechen
Mit meinem tiefen Heimweh an.

Nun scheinen sie mir all zu leben,
Zu spiegeln dein und meinen Schmerz. 
Und, bräch' ich sie, so mein' ich eben,
Ich bräche mit Dein treues Herz.

So bleibt denn stehn, und meine Schmerzen,
O Blumen, wahrt in frommem Sinn
Zum Trost dem nächsten treuen Herzen,
Das nach mir zieht die Straße hin!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Christian Reinhold Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, Z 2717, poem [37], written on September 11, 1843, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach, Germany.

Text Authorship:

by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, written 1843 [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 Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Blumengruß", 1843, published 2008 [ voice and piano ], München: Strube Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Greeting of the flowers", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 107

Greeting of the flowers

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The flowers greet me along the road,
[The flowers] that you so love, they call to me
That I should pick them and care for them,
That I should kiss them and send them to you.

But as I go to break them,
I realize that I cannot do it,
They begin such a sweet conversation
With my acute homesickness!

Suddenly they all appear to me to be alive,
To be mirroring your and my pain,
And if I broke them from the bush, I feel that I would
Be breaking your faithful heart along with them.

So remain unpicked, flowers, and cherish
My pain in your pious spirit,
To be a comfort to the next loyal heart
That comes along the road after me!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 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 Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, written 1843
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 125