English translations of Vier Gesänge, opus 14

by Victor Ernst Nessler (1841 - 1890)

1. Ich liebe dich  [sung text not yet checked]
by Victor Ernst Nessler (1841 - 1890), "Ich liebe dich", op. 14 (Vier Gesänge), Heft 1 no. 1
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wenn zwei von einander scheiden,
So geben sie sich die Händ',
Und fangen an zu weinen,
Und seufzen ohne End'.

Wir haben nicht [geweinet]1,
Wir seufzten nicht Weh und Ach!
Die [Tränen und die Seufzer]2,
Die kamen hinten nach.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 153.

1 Reinecke: "geweint"
2 Decker, Reinecke: "Seufzer und die Tränen"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
1. When two people part
Language: English 
When two people part
They give each other their hands
And they begin to weep
And sigh endlessly!
We did not weep,
And did not sigh "woe" and "alas."
The tears and the sighs
Came afterwards!

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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This text was added to the website: 2006-12-14
Line count: 8
Word count: 36

Translation © by Sharon Krebs, Harald Krebs
2. Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner  [sung text not yet checked]
by Victor Ernst Nessler (1841 - 1890), "Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner", op. 14 (Vier Gesänge), Heft 1 no. 2
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)
2. 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.

Text Authorship:

  • 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.

    David Kenneth Smith.  Contact: dksmith (AT) geneva.edu


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
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Translation © by David Kenneth Smith