English translations of Sechs Lieder von H. Heine, opus 41

by Friedrich Siebmann

1. Entflieh mit mir und sei mein Weib  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Entflieh mit mir und sei mein Weib", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 1 (Tragödie) no. 1 [ alto or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Entflieh mit mir und sei mein Weib,
Und ruh' an meinem Herzen aus;
[Fern in der Fremde]1 sei mein Herz
[Dein]2 Vaterland und Vaterhaus.

[Gehst du nicht mit, so sterb ich hier]3
Und du bist einsam und allein;
Und bleibst du auch im Vaterhaus,
Wirst doch wie in der Fremde sein.

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1 Hiller, Mendelssohn, Schumann: "In weiter Ferne"
2 Hiller: "dir"
3 Griffes: "Kommst du nicht mit, so sterb ich hier"; Hiller, Mendelssohn: "Und fliehst du nicht, so sterb' ich hier"; Schumann: "Entfliehn wir nicht, so sterb' ich hier"; Stanford: "Gehst du nicht mit, ich sterbe hier"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
1. Flee with me and be my wife
Language: English 
 Flee with me and be my wife,
 and rest upon my heat;
 in distant lands let my heart
 be your fatherland and your parental home.
 
 If we do not flee, I'll die here
 and you will be lonely and alone;
 and you will remain in your parental house,
 but it will be like a foreign land to you.

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: 8
Word count: 59

Translation © by Emily Ezust
2. Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 1 (Tragödie) no. 2 [ alto or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht,    
Es fiel auf die [zarten]1 Blaublümelein:
Sie sind verwelket, [verdorret]2.

Ein Jüngling hatte ein Mädchen lieb,
Sie flohen heimlich [von]3 Hause fort,
Es [wußt']4 weder Vater noch Mutter.

Sie sind gewandert hin und her,
Sie haben gehabt weder Glück noch Stern,
Sie sind [verdorben, gestorben]5.

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Confirmed with Neue Gedichte von Heinrich Heine, Zehnte Auflage, Hamburg, Hoffmann und Campe, 1871, page 151. Below the number at the top of the text are the following words: "(Dieses ist ein wirkliches Volkslied, welches ich am Rheine gehört.)" which can be translated "This is a real folksong that I heard on the Rhein". See also Backer-Grøndahl's song, which uses some of this text.

1 Hiller, Mendelssohn: "bunten"
2 Griffes, Walter, Stanford: "verdorrt"
3 Rubinstein: "vom"
4 Hermann, Hiller: "wusst's"
5 Hiller, Mendelssohn, C. Schumann: "gestorben, verdorben"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
2. There fell a frost on a night of Spring
Language: English 
There fell a frost on a night of Spring,
it fell on the delicate blossoms blue:
the blossoms withered, and drooped.

A young man once loved a maiden fair;
in secret they ran away from home,
unknown to their father or mother.

They wandered aimless here and there,
they had neither luck nor aiding star,
they met their ruin, they perished.

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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Translation © by David Kenneth Smith
3. Auf ihrem Grab, da steht eine Linde  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Auf ihrem Grab, da steht eine Linde", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 1 (Tragödie) no. 3
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Auf ihrem Grab, da steht eine Linde,
Drin pfeifen die Vögel [und]1 Abendwinde,
Und [drunter sitzt, auf dem grünen]2 Platz,
[Der]3 Müllersknecht mit seinem Schatz.

Die [Winde, die wehen so lind]4 und so schaurig,
Die [Vögel, die singen]5 so süß und [so]6 traurig:
Die schwatzenden Buhlen, [die]7 werden stumm,
Sie weinen und wissen selbst nicht warum.

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1 Griffes, Schumann: "im"
2 Hiller: "drunten sitzt auf dem grünem"
3 Hiller: "Des"
4 Griffes, Schumann: "Winde wehen so lind", Hiller, Mendelssohn: "Winde weh'n so still"
5 Griffes, Hiller, Mendelssohn, Schumann: "Vögel singen"
6 omitted by Hiller
7 Griffes, Hiller, Mendelssohn, Schumann: "sie"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
3. Over their grave stands a linden tree
Language: English 
 Over their grave stands a linden tree,
 in which the birds are piping in the evening wind,
 and on the grass underneath sits
 the miller's boy with his sweetheart.
 
 The wind blows so mildly and eerily,
 the birds sing so sweetly and mournfully:
 the chattering youngsters, they fall silent;
 they weep and they do not know why.

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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4. Gekommen ist der Maie  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Gekommen ist der Maie", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 2 no. 1 [ alto or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Gekommen ist der [Maye]1,
Die Blumen und Bäume blühn,
Und durch [die Himmelsbläue]2
Die [rosigen]3 Wolken ziehn.

Die [Nachtigallen]4 singen
Herab aus [der laubigen]5 Höh,
Die weißen Lämmer springen
Im weichen grünen Klee.

[Ich kann nicht singen und springen]6,
Ich liege krank im Gras;
Ich höre fernes Klingen,
Mir träumt, ich weiß nicht was.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe der Werke, herausgegeben von Manfred Windfuhr, Band 2, Neue Gedichte, bearbeitet von Elisabeth Genton, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1983, pages 13-14.

1 Curschmann, Marek: "Maie"
2 Franz: "des Himmels Bläue"
3 Curschmann: "ros'gen"
4 Curschmann: "lust'gen Vöglein"
5 Curschmann: "luftiger"
6 Curschmann: "Doch ich kann nicht springen und singen"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
4. May has come
Language: English 
May has come,
The flowers and the trees blossom,
And through the blue of heaven
The rosy clouds travel.

The [nightingales]1 are singing
Down from the [leafy]2 heights,
The white lambs are leaping about
In the soft green clover.

[I cannot sing and leap]3,
Ill I lie in the grass;
I hear a distant ringing,
I am dreaming I know not what.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 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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Translations of title(s):
"Neuer Frühling" = "New spring"
"Mailied" = "May-song"
"Zum ersten Mai" = "For the first of May"
"Frühlingsankunft" = "Spring's arrival"
"Ungestillte Sehnsucht" = "Unassuaged yearning"
"Im Mai" = "In May"
"Duett" = "Duet"
"Der Mai" = "May"
"Frühlingslied" = "Spring song"
"Gekommen ist der Maie" = "May has come"
"Der neue Frühling" = "The new spring"

1 Curschmann: "merry birdlets"
2 Curschmann: "airy"
3 Curschmann: "But I cannot leap and sing"


This text was added to the website: 2020-03-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
5. Du bist wie eine Blume  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Du bist wie eine Blume", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 2 no. 2 [ alto or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
  Du bist wie eine Blume
[So hold und schön und rein;]1
Ich [schau']2 dich an, und Wehmut
Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.

  Mir ist, als [ob ich]3 die Hände
Aufs Haupt [dir]4 legen sollt',
[Betend]5, daß [Gott dich]6 erhalte
[So rein und schön und hold]7.

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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 136.

1 Ander: "So schön, so rein und hold"; Chadwick: "So schön, so hold, so rein"; Mayer: "So hold, so schön und rein"; Becker, Thuille: "So hold, so schön, so rein"; Unger: "So rein so schön und hold"
2 Becker: "seh'"
3 Hinrichs: "ob"
4 Hinrichs: "ich dir"
5 Dreyschock: "und beten"
6 Liszt: "dich Gott"
7 Ander: "So hold und schön und rein"; Chadwick, Thuille: "So schön, so hold, so rein"; Mayer: "So rein, so schön und hold"; Becker: "So rein, so schön, so hold"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
5. Thou art, as is a flower
Language: English 
Thou art, as is a flower,
so meek and pure and fine,
I look at thee and sadness
steals o'er the heart of mine.

I feel that both my hands softly
thy hair, thy head should seek,
praying that God may preserve thee
so pure and fine and meek.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Bertram Kottmann.  Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de

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This text was added to the website: 2009-08-10
Line count: 8
Word count: 49

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann
6. Mit schwarzen Segeln segelt mein Schiff  [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Siebmann , "Mit schwarzen Segeln segelt mein Schiff", op. 41 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine), Heft 2 no. 3 [ alto or baritone and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Mit schwarzen Segeln segelt mein Schiff
wohl über das wilde Meer;
du weißt, wie sehr ich traurig bin,
und kränkst mich [noch]1 so schwer.

Dein Herz ist treulos wie der Wind
und flattert hin und her;
mit schwarzen Segeln segelt mein Schiff
wohl über das wilde Meer.

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1 Griffes: "doch"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
6. With black sails my ship plows
Language: English 
 With black sails my ship plows
 across the wild ocean;
 you know how very sad I am,
 and yet you hurt me all the more.
 
 Your heart is perfidious like the wind
 and flutters back and forth;
 with black sails my ship plows
 across the wild ocean.

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:

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: 48

Translation © by Emily Ezust