English translations of Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt, opus 26

by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880)

1. Wiegenlied
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Wiegenlied", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 1 (1859), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
So bete mein Kind, und schlaf' dann in Ruh'
Und schliesse die blauen Guckaügelein zu!
Die Lämmchen sind jetzt müd' und matt
Und suchen ihre Lagerstatt,
Summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ.

Der Vogel flog zum Dornenstrauch
Und weil es Nacht ist, schläft er auch.
Die Sterne glänzen hell und klar,
Es kommt von dort, der Engel Schar
Summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ.

Es kommt auch einer her und wacht
An deinem Bettchen, die ganze Nacht
Er breitet seine Flügel aus
Und rufet: Gott schütze dieses Haus
Summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ, summ.

So bete mein Kind, und schlaf' dann in Ruh'!
Schliesse die müden Guckaügelein zu,
So bete mein Kind, und schlafe in Ruh'!
Und schliesse die blauen Guckaügelein zu!

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possibly by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880)
1. Lullaby
Language: English 
So pray, my child, and sleep then in peace!
And close your tired, little blue eyes!
The little lambs are now tired and drooping
And look for their place of rest,
Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum.

The bird flies to the thornbush
And because it is night, it too sleeps.
The stars are sparkling brightly and clearly,
From where they are a host of angels comes.
Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum.

One angel also comes here and watches
Beside your bed all night long.
He spreads his wings
And calls out:  May God protect this house!
Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum.

So pray, my child, and sleep then in peace!
Close your tired litte eyes,
So pray, my child, and sleep in peace!
And close your tired little blue eyes!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs, (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: 2006-12-13
Line count: 19
Word count: 136

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
2. Bei Nacht und Nebel
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Bei Nacht und Nebel", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 2 (1847), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Bei Nacht und Nebel fahr' ich fort,
Frag' nicht, wohin es geht?
Denn ach, was Liebes ließ ich dort,
Das noch am Fenster steht.
Vom lieben Mund das Abschiedswort
Ich hör' es früh und spät.
Das treue Aug' bleibt immerfort
Der Stern, der mit mir geht.

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by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)
2. At night and in the fog
Language: English 
At night and in the fog, I depart;
Do not ask whither!
For ah, what dear [person] did I leave behind
Who is still standing at the window!
The parting word from her dear lips
I hear it early and late.
Her faithful eye remains always
The star that travels with me.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs, (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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Translation of title "Bei Nacht und Nebel" = "At night and in the fog"


This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 52

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
3. Du denkst an mich so selten
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Du denkst an mich so selten", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 3 (1838), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Du denkst an mich so selten,
Ich denk' an dich so viel,
Getrennt in beiden Welten
Ist unser beider Ziel.
 
Ich möchte beide Welten
Durchziehn an deiner Hand,
Bald schlummern unter Zelten,
Bald gehn von Land zu Land.
 
Und willst du mir vergelten
Durch Liebe dies Gedicht,
Dann fließt um beide Welten
Ein rosenfarbnes Licht.

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Note: In later editions of Platen’s works, there were some differences in the text of the second and third stanzas of the poem.

by August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796 - 1835)
3.
Language: English 
You think of me so rarely.
I think of you so much.
Separated [like]1 both worlds
Are our respective goals.
 
I would like to pass through both worlds
Hand in hand with you,
Sometimes slumbering under tents,
Sometimes wandering from land to land.
 
And if you wish to reward me
For this poem with love,
Then around both worlds
Shall flow a rose-coloured light.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs and Harald Krebs, (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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1 Lang: "in"


This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 64

Translation © by Sharon Krebs, Harald Krebs
4. Frühes Sterben
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Frühes Sterben", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 4 (1838), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wie die Wellen still sich legen
  Nach dem leichten Abendwind,
Wie die Mutter sorgsam leget
  In den Schlaf ihr liebes Kind;
 
Möchte ich mein heißes Sehnen
  In der Seele wiegen ein,
Und die alte schlimme Klage
  Sollt' damit verklungen seyn.
 
Spielend mit den Frühlingsluften
  Wird die Blume rosenroth,
Aber in dem zarten Kelche
  Schlummert auch ihr früher Tod.
 
So geschieht's auch meiner Liebe
  In dem stets bewegten Herz,
Hat ihr Lieben auch begonnen,
  Fühlt sie schon des Todes Schmerz.

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sometimes misattributed to Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856) and by Friedrich Georg Christoph Philipp Mayer (1804 - 1857)
4. Early death
Language: English 
Just as the waves come to rest
  After the soft evening breeze,
Just as a mother solicitously
  [Rocks a dear child]1 to sleep,
 
Thus would I like to rock to sleep
  The fervent yearning in my soul,
And [an]2 old, evil lament
  Would therewith have faded away.
 
Playing with the breezes of spring,
  The flower turns rose-red,
But in the tender chalice
  [Quietly slumbers]3 its early death.
 
Thus it happens to my love as well,
  In my ever-restless heart;
[When its life has barely]4 begun
  It already feels the pangs of death.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs and Harald Krebs, (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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1 Lang: "places her dear child down"
2 Lang: "the"
3 Lang: "Slumbers too"
4 Lang: "As soon as its loving has"


This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 92

Translation © by Sharon Krebs, Harald Krebs
5. Zusammen
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Zusammen", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 5, published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
  Nach jenen blauen Bergen senden
Willst du die Blicke sehnsuchtsvoll,
Willst, daß auch ich mein Aug hin wenden
Und deinen dort begegnen soll.
 
  So klammre dich denn, wundes Herze,
An jenen starren Felsen an!
Grab' dort dich ein mit deinem Schmerze,
Dem nur der Ihre gleichen kann!
 
  So findet dort euch, treue Seelen!
Zusammen schmied' euch fest der Gram!
Nichts wird euch in der Wildniß fehlen
Ob auch das Schicksal alles nahm.

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by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)
5. Together
Language: English 
  Toward those blue mountains you wish
To send your yearning gaze,
[You] wish me also to turn my eyes toward them
And to meet [your gaze]1 there.
 
  So clutch then, wounded heart,
Those stark cliffs!
Dig yourself into them with your pain,
Which can be equaled only by hers [the beloved's]!
 
  So find each other there, faithful souls!
May pain weld you firmly together!
You shall lack nothing in the wilderness,
Even if fate took everything from you.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs and Harald Krebs, (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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1 Lang: "yours"


This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 78

Translation © by Sharon Krebs, Harald Krebs
6. Schilflied
 (Sung text)
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Schilflied", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 6 (1838), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Drüben geht die Sonne scheiden,
Und der müde Tag entschlief.
Niederhangen hier die Weiden
In den Teich, so still, so tief.

Und ich muß mein Liebstes meiden:
Quill, o Thräne, quill hervor!
Traurig säuseln hier die Weiden,
Und im Winde bebt das Rohr.

Wie durch Binsen hier und Weiden
Strahlt des Abendsternes Bild,
In mein stilles, tiefes Leiden
Strahlst du, Ferne! hell und mild.

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by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850)
6. The sun is sinking over there
Language: English 
The sun is sinking over there,
and the weary day has fallen asleep.
The willows here hang down
into the pond, so still, so deep.

And I must part from my dearest;
well up, 0 tears, well up within me!
The willows rustle mournfully here,
and the reed trembles in the wind.

Into my silent, deep sorrow,
Shine, distance! bright and mild -
just as, through weeds and willows here,
the evening star's image shines.

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: 74

Translation © by Emily Ezust