Homesickness | Stars! you that look down

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Heimweh

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Sterne! die ihr niederschaut 
Fern auch auf den grünen See, 
Euch dort oben sei vertraut 
In der Fremde hier mein Weh! 
  Mächtig wohl erbraust das Meer, 
Doch die Firnen seh' ich nicht, 
Die so hold, ach! und so hehr 
Schimmerten im Abendlicht!

  Winde! die vom Heimathland 
Ihr so frisch herüberweht, 
Euch, am schönen, üppgen Strand, 
Sei's geklagt, wie's mir ergeht! 
  Reicher wohl blüht Alles hier, 
Doch die Matten seh' ich nicht, 
Strahlend wie mit goldner Zier 
Traut im letzten Abendlicht! 

  Vögel! die ihr heimwärts fliegt, 
Hört, o höret meinen Gruß! 
Wenn ihr fern im Tann euch wiegt, 
Klagt's ihm, was ich leiden muß! 
  Ach! den grünen, grünen Wald 
Meiner Heimath seh' ich nicht, 
Und mein Seufzer nur verhallt 
Wehmuthsvoll im Abendlicht!

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, pages 276-277.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Heimweh", appears in Liederbuch, in 4. Vaterlandslieder, no. 307 [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Heimweh", op. 431 (Drei Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1873 [ voice and piano ], Bremen, Praeger & Meier [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Jakob Nater (1826 - 1906), "Heimweh", published 1872 [ ttbb chorus ], from Zwölf Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor, no. 5, Zürich und St. Gallen: Eigenthum und Verlag von P.J. Fries [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Homesickness", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-02-17
Line count: 24
Word count: 122

Homesickness

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Stars! you that look down
From afar upon the green lake,
To you up there I confess
The pain I feel here in foreign parts!
  The sea does indeed roar mightily,
But I do not see the old snows
That so beautifully, ah, and so augustly
Shimmered in the evening light!

  Winds! that from my homeland
Blow over here so briskly,
To you, upon this beautiful, sumptuous beach
I lament what I am feeling!
  Everything may well bloom more richly here,
But I do not see the alpine meadows
Shining as if adorned with gold
Familiarly in the last evening light!

  Birds! who fly homewards,
Hear, oh hear my greeting!
When you are swaying upon the branches of the distant fir,
Tell it of what I am forced to suffer!
  Ah! I do not see the green, 
Green forest of my homeland,
And only my sigh echoes away,
Full of melancholy, in the evening light!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Heimweh", appears in Liederbuch, in 4. Vaterlandslieder, no. 307
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-02-18
Line count: 24
Word count: 156