Garland of Songs , opus 64

by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927)

Translations available for the entire opus: CAT 

Heft 1 -- 5. 'Tis the last rose of summer  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flow'r of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them;
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er [thy bed,
Where]1 thy mates of the garden
Lie [scentless]2 and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie wither'd.
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

Text Authorship:

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Guy Tops) , "’t Is de laatste roos van de zomer", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "C'est la dernière rose de l'été", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Britten: "the bed/ Where"
2 Britten: "senseless"

Heft 2 -- 12. Sun of the sleepless  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Sun of the sleepless! melancholy star!
Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far!
That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel,
How like art thou to joy remember'd well!
So gleams the past, the light of other days,
Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays;
A nightbeam Sorrow watcheth to behold,
Distinct, but distant - clear - but, oh how cold!

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Soleil des hommes qui ne peuvent dormir", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 24
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sole degli insonni", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission