English translations of Drei Gedichte, opus 5

by Ferdinand Oskar Eichberg (1845 - 1898)

1. Wenn ich auf dem Lager liege  [sung text not yet checked]
by Ferdinand Oskar Eichberg (1845 - 1898), "Wenn ich auf dem Lager liege", op. 5 (Drei Gedichte) no. 1
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wenn ich auf dem Lager liege
In Nacht [und Kissen]1 gehüllt,
So schwebt mir vor ein süßes,
Anmutig liebes Bild!

Wenn mir der stille Schlummer
Geschlossen die Augen kaum,
So schleicht [das Bild sich leise]2
Hinein in meinen Traum

[Doch]3 mit dem Traum des Morgens
Zerrinnt es nimmermehr;
Dann trag' ich es im Herzen
Den ganzen Tag umher.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine's Sämmtliche Werke, Erster Band: Reisebilder, Dritte Auflage, Philadelphia: Verlag von John Weik, 1856, pages 29-30.

1 omitted by Mendelssohn
2 Lang: "das liebe Bild"
3 Lang: "Und"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
1. When I lie on the bed
Language: English 
When I lie on the bed, 
shrouded in night and cushions, 
So floats before me a sweet,
lovely dear image.

When silent slumber 
has barely closed my eyes, 
So creeps the image quietly
into my dream.

And in the morning 
it never fades away with the dream:
Then I carry it about with me in my heart 
the whole day.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by David K. Smythe, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

Translation © by David K. Smythe
2. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome  [sung text not yet checked]
by Ferdinand Oskar Eichberg (1845 - 1898), "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome", op. 5 (Drei Gedichte) no. 2
Language: German (Deutsch) 
[Im]1 Rhein, [im]1 [schönen]2 Strome,
Da spiegelt sich in den [Well'n]3
Mit seinem großen Dome
Das [große, heil'ge]4 Köln.

Im Dom da steht ein Bildnis,
Auf [goldnem Leder]5 gemalt;
In meines Lebens Wildnis
Hat's freundlich [hineingestrahlt]6.

Es schweben Blumen und [Eng'lein]7
Um unsre liebe Frau;
Die Augen, die Lippen, die Wänglein,
Die gleichen der Liebsten genau.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 120.

Note: in the first version of the poem, Heine has "heiligen" in stanza 1, line 1, word 4.

1 Hollmann, Urspruch: "Am" / "am"; further changes may exist for Hollmann's setting, not shown above.
2 Schumann, Franz: "heiligen"
3 Liszt: "Wellen"
4 Liszt, Urspruch: "große, das heilige"
5 Franz: "goldenem Grunde"; Urspruch: "goldenes Leder"
6 Urspruch: "herein gestrahlt"
7 Ender: "Eng'lein"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
2. In the Rhine, in the fair stream
Language: English 
In the Rhine, in the holy stream
Is it mirrored in the waves -
With its great cathedral -
That great, holy city Cologne.

In the Cathedral stands an image
Painted on golden leather;
Into the wildness of my life
Has it shone, friendly.

Flowers and little cherubs hover
Around our beloved Lady;
The eyes, the lips, the cheeks--
They match my beloved's exactly.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Paul Hindemith, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 62

Translation © by Paul Hindemith
3. Der Asra  [sung text not yet checked]
by Ferdinand Oskar Eichberg (1845 - 1898), "Der Asra", op. 5 (Drei Gedichte) no. 3
Language: German (Deutsch) 
  Täglich ging die wunderschöne 
Sultanstochter auf und nieder 
Um die Abendzeit am Springbrunn,
Wo die weißen Wasser plätschern.

  Täglich stand der junge Sklave
Um die Abendzeit am Springbrunn.
Wo die weißen Wasser plätschern;
Täglich ward er bleich und bleicher.

  Eines Abends trat die Fürstin 
Auf ihn zu mit raschen Worten:
"Deinen Namen will ich wissen, 
Deine Heimat, deine Sippschaft!"

  Und der Sklave sprach: "Ich heiße
[Mohamed]1, [ich]2 bin aus Yemen,
Und mein Stamm sind jene Asra,
Welche sterben, wenn sie lieben."

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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 392.

1 Loewe, Rubinstein: "Mahomet"
2 Loewe: "und"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
3. The Asra
Language: English 
Every day the wondrous lovely
Sultan's daughter spent the evening
On the paths beside the fountain
Where the foaming waters murmur.

Every day the slave boy watched her
On the paths beside the fountain
Where the foaming waters murmur;
Every day he turned more pallid.

Then one eve the princess halted,
Firing off the urgent questions:
What's your name? I want to know it,
And your country and your people!

And the slave boy said: They call me
Mohammed, I'm from the Yemen,
And my tribe -- the famous Asra,
They who die when love enslaves them.

Text Authorship:

  • Singable translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Peter Palmer, (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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Note: this is a revised American version of the one published with the David Blake setting.


This text was added to the website: 2009-06-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 96

Translation © by Peter Palmer