English translations of Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, opus 97

by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

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1. Nachtigall
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Nachtigall", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1 (<<1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
O Nachtigall,
Dein süßer Schall
er dringet mir durch Mark und Bein.
Nein, trauter Vogel, nein!
Was in mir schafft so süße Pein,
Das ist nicht dein, --
Das ist von andern himmelschönen,
Nun längst für mich verklungenen Tönen
In deinem Lied ein leiser Widerhall.

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Confirmed with: C. Reinhold, Gedichte, Stuttgart: Carl Mäcken, 1853, page 11.

by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)
1. Nightingale
Language: English 
O nightingale,
your sweet sound
penetrates my marrow and my bones.
No, dear bird, no!
what creates in me such sweet pain,
is not you,
but something else: heavenly, lovely tones
that have long since faded away;
in your song there is merely a soft echo.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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Line count: 9
Word count: 46

Translation © by Emily Ezust
2. Auf dem Schiffe
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Auf dem Schiffe", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2 (1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Ein Vögelein
Fliegt über den Rhein
Und wiegt die Flügel
Im Sonnenschein,
Sieht Rebenhügel
Und grüne Flut
In goldner Glut. --
Wie wohl das tut,
So hoch erhoben
Im Morgenhauch!
Beim Vöglein droben,
O wär' ich auch!

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Note: in Lang's song, line 3 word 2 ("wiegt") becomes "wieget" in the repetition.

by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)
2. In the boat
Language: English 
A tiny bird
Flies over the Rhein
And flaps its wings
in the bright sunshine.
It sees hills with vines
And a green river
In a golden glow.
How good it is,
To be raised so high
Up in the morning air!
Up above with that little bird,
O, would I were there as well!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 55

Translation © by Emily Ezust
3. Entführung
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Entführung", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3 (1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
O Lady Judith, spröder Schatz,
Drückt dich zu fest mein Arm?
Je zwei zu Pferd haben schlechten Platz
Und Winternacht weht nicht warm.

Hart ist der Sitz und knapp und schmal,
Und kalt mein Kleid von Erz,
Doch kälter und härter als Sattel und Stahl
War gegen mich dein Herz.

Sechs Nächte lag ich in Sumpf und Moor
Und hab' um dich gewacht,
Doch weicher, bei Sankt Görg ich's schwor,
Schlaf' ich die siebente Nacht!

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by Wilhelm Häring (1798 - 1871), as Willibald Alexis
3. Abduction
Language: English 
O Lady Judith, my aloof treasure,
does my arm press you too tightly?
Two on a horse leaves little room,
and the winter night does not blow warm.

Hard is the seat, and narrow and tiny,
and cold is my metal clothing,
yet colder and harder than saddle and steel
was your heart, set against me.

Six nights I lay in swamp and moor
and lay awake because of you;
but by Saint George I swore,
I would sleep softer on the seventh night!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 84

Translation © by Emily Ezust
4. Dort in den Weiden
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Dort in den Weiden", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4 (<< 1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Dort in den Weiden steht ein Haus,
da schaut die Magd zum Fenster 'naus!
Sie schaut stromauf, sie schaut stromab:
ist noch nicht da mein Herzensknab'?
Der schönste Bursch am ganzen Rhein,
den nenn' ich mein, den nenn' ich mein!

Des Morgens fährt er auf dem Fluß,
und singt herüber seinen Gruß,
des Abends, wenn's Glühwürmchen fliegt,
sein Nachen an das Ufer wiegt,
da kann ich mit dem Burschen mein
beisammen sein, beisammen sein!

Die Nachtigall im Fliederstrauch,
was sie da singt, versteh' ich auch;
sie saget: übers Jahr ist Fest,
hab' ich, mein Lieber, auch ein Nest,
wo ich dann mit dem Burschen mein 
die Froh'st' am Rhein, die Froh'st' am Rhein!

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Note: Neither text nor melody is authentically from the lower Rhine. From Zuccalmaglio's collection Deutsche Volkslieder mit ihren Original-Weisen, Berlin, 1838-40, titled "Niederrheinisches Volkslied". Probably by Zuccalmaglio.
sometimes misattributed to Volkslieder (Folksongs) and by Anton Wilhelm Florentin von Zuccalmaglio (1803 - 1869)
4. There in the meadow stands a house
Language: English 
There in the meadow stands a house,
and there a maiden looks out of the window!
She gazes upstream, she gazes downstream:
is not my heart's beloved boy there yet?
The handsomest lad on the entire Rhine
I call mine, mine!

In the mornings he sails on the river
and sings to me his greeting;
in the evenings, when the glow-worms fly about,
his skiff rocks by the bank
and then I can be with my sweetheart,
together, together!

The nightingale in the lilac bush -
what she sings there, I understand:
she says that next year there will be a celebration,
and I too, my love, will have a nest,
where, with my dear sweetheart, I will be then
the happiest girl on the Rhine, the happiest girl on the Rhine!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 131

Translation © by Emily Ezust
5. Komm bald
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Komm bald", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5 (1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Warum denn warten von Tag zu Tag?
Es blüht im Garten, was blühen mag.
Wer kommt und zählt es, was blüht so schön?
An Augen fehlt es, es anzuseh'n.

Die meinen wandern vom Strauch zum Baum;
mir scheint, auch andern wär's wie ein Traum.
Und von den Lieben, die mir getreu
und mir geblieben, wär'st du dabei!

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by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899)
5. Come soon
Language: English 
Why, then, wait from day to day?
The garden blooms when it wants to bloom.
Who comes to count everything that blooms so fair?
No pair of eyes would be able to see everything.

My own eyes wander from bush to tree;
it seems to me that others would think it a dream.
And of those lovers, who are true to me
and love me, I wish you were among them!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 71

Translation © by Emily Ezust
6. Trennung
 (Sung text)
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Trennung", op. 97 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 6 (1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
Language: Bavarian (Boarisch) 
Da unten im Tale
Läuft's Wasser so trüb,
Und i kann dir's net sagen,
I hab' di so lieb.

Sprichst allweil von Liebe,
Sprichst allweil von Treu',
Und a bissele Falschheit
Is auch wohl dabei.

Und wenn i dir's zehnmal sag,
Daß i di lieb  ... ,
Und du willst nit verstehn,
Muß i halt weitergehn.

Für die Zeit, wo du gliebt mi hast,
 ...  dank i dir schön,
Und i wünsch, daß dir's anderswo
Besser mag gehn.

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6. Down in the valley there
Language: English 
 Down in the valley there
 the water flows so sadly,
 and I can't tell you
 that I love you so.

 You always speak of love,
 you always speak of fidelity,
 but a bit of falsehood
 is always there too.

 And if I tell you ten times,
 that I love and like you,
 and you do not want to understand,
 then I will have to move on.

 For the time that you have loved me,
 I thank you kindly,
 and I wish that somewhere else 
 things may go better for you.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Bavarian (Boarisch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 91

Translation © by Emily Ezust