by Franz Alfred Muth (1839 - 1890)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Auf den Bergen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
  [Soweit]1 die Thale in Frühlingsruh',
Die Quellen rauschen und fließen;
O Bergesrast, wie süß bist du,
Wenn rings die Blumen sprießen.

  Und ist es dir zu eng im Thal,
Und thun so weh die Schmerzen,
Komm' auf die Höh'n im Morgenstrahl
Und höre die Vögel scherzen!

  Die Welt ist fern, verstummt ihr Laut
Hier auf den hohen Bergen;
Du siehst nur, wie der Himmel blaut,
Du hörst nur Klang der Lerchen.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Franz Alfred Muth, Waldblumen, Dritte, durchaus ausgewählte und reich vermehrte Auflage, Paderborn: Druck und Verlag von Ferdinand Schöningh, 1885, pages 29-30.

1 Attenhofer: "So weit"; further changes may exist not noted above.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Upon the mountains", 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: 2020-12-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 73

Upon the mountains
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
  How expansive are the valleys in springtime's peace,
The water-springs murmur and flow;
Oh mountain rest, how sweet you are
When the flowers sprout all around.

  And if you feel too confined in the valley,
And if your sorrows pain you so,
Come up to the heights in the morning sunbeams
And listen to the birds jesting!

  The world is far away, its sounds have fallen mute
Up here upon the high mountains;
You see only how blue is the sky,
You hear only the musical sound of the larks.

Translator’s note to the first line: There is a difference between "soweit" and "so weit"; however, the former proved to be difficult to translate in the absence of a verb, so the first line is translated using the composer's words "so weit."


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.
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This text was added to the website: 2020-12-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 91