English translations of Vier Lieder, opus 15

by Cornelius Gurlitt (1820 - 1901)

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1. Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner  [sung text not yet checked]
by Cornelius Gurlitt (1820 - 1901), "Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner", op. 15 (Vier Lieder) no. 1 [ bass or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
  Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner
Wollt' es dem andern gestehn;
Sie sahen sich an so feindlich,
Und wollten vor Liebe vergehn.

  Sie trennten sich endlich und [sahn]1 sich
Nur noch zuweilen im Traum;
Sie waren [längst]2 gestorben
Und wußten es selber kaum.

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Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], page 131.

1 Backer-Grøndahl, White: "sahen"
2 Backer-Grøndahl: "schon längst"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
1. They once loved each other
Language: English 
They once loved each other, but neither
would to the other confess;
they saw each other as hostile,
yet wanted to perish from love.

They finally parted and sometimes sighted
the other in dreams;
they had been dead so long now
and hardly known it themselves.

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  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 1996 by David Kenneth Smith, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 46

Translation © by David Kenneth Smith