The last snow | How amiably the last snow

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Der letzte Schnee

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Wie freundlich lacht der letzte Schnee
Der Sonn' ins Angesicht,
Ohn' allen Gram und alles Weh,
So rein und blank und licht!

  Und weiß doch, daß er scheiden muß
Von Feld und Flur gar bald, 
Und sterben vor dem heißen Kuß 
Auch in dem fernsten Wald. 

  Sieh! mit der Sonne freut er sich 
Der nahen Frühlingszeit,
Grüßt schon die Veilchen inniglich, 
Ach! trotz dem eignen Leid! 

  Glückselig, wer am Sterbetag, 
Dem Schnee gleich im Gefild, 
So froh zulezt noch lächeln mag, 
So heiter und so mild!

Confirmed with Neue Lieder von Friedrich Oser (1874-1884), Basel: Verlag von M. Bernheim, 1885, pages 7-8.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Der letzte Schnee", appears in Neue Lieder, in Erstes Buch, no. 6 [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 Hans Michael Schletterer (1824 - 1893) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The last snow", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2024-12-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 87

The last snow

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  How amiably the last snow 
Laughs into the sun's face,
Without any sorrow and any pain,
So pure and gleaming and light!

  And knows nevertheless that soon it must
Depart from field and meadow,
And must die from the fervent kiss [of the sun]
even in the most distant woods.

  Lo! with the sun it rejoices
In the imminent springtime,
It already greets the violets dearly,
Ah! despite its own grief!

  Blessed is he who upon his death-day,
Like the snow upon the land,
May in the end still smile so joyfully,
So cheerfully and so gently!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Der letzte Schnee", appears in Neue Lieder, in Erstes Buch, no. 6
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-12-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 98