English translations of Vier Lieder, opus 1

by Gerhart von Westermann (1894 - 1963)

1. Das war der Tag...  [sung text not yet checked]
by Gerhart von Westermann (1894 - 1963), "Das war der Tag...", op. 1 (Vier Lieder) no. 1, copyright © 1940 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin : Ed. Bote & G. Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemen, --
mir bangte fast vor seiner [schweren Pracht]1...
Und dann, dann kamst du mir die Seele nehmen
tief in der Nacht.

Mir war so bang, und du kamst lieb und leise, --
ich hatte grad im Traum an dich gedacht.
Du kamst, und leis wie eine Märchenweise
erklang die Nacht....

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Erste Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke, Leipzig, Im Insel-Verlag, 1913.

Note: some lines of this poem were used in Zanettovich's Lied (mond - nacht - liebes - traum - lied)
1 Berg: "Pracht"

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
1.
Language: English 
That was the day of white chrysanthemums;
I almost trembled before its glory...
And then, then you came to me to take my soul
Deep in the night.

I felt so anxious, and you came so lovingly and gently;
I had just been thinking about you in a dream.
You came, and softly, like a fairy tale, 
the night resounded.

Text Authorship:

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


Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 60

Translation © by Emily Ezust