English translations of Zwei Lieder für Sopran und Klavier, opus 31

by (Olav) Fartein Valen (1887 - 1952)

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1. Gruppe aus dem Tartarus  [sung text not yet checked]
by (Olav) Fartein Valen (1887 - 1952), "Gruppe aus dem Tartarus", op. 31 (Zwei Lieder für Sopran und Klavier) no. 1 (1939) [ soprano and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Horch - wie Murmeln des empörten Meeres,
Wie durch hohler Felsen Becken weint ein Bach,
[Stöhnt dort]1 [dumpfigtief ein]2 schweres, leeres,
Qualerpreßtes Ach!

Schmerz verzerret
Ihr Gesicht, Verzweiflung sperret
Ihren Rachen fluchend auf.
Hohl sind ihre Augen - ihre Blicke
Spähen bang nach des Kozytus Brücke,
Folgen thränend seinem Trauerlauf.

Fragen sich einander ängstlich leise:
Ob noch nicht Vollendung sey? -
Ewigkeit schwingt über ihnen Kreise,
Bricht die Sense des Saturns entzwei.

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Confirmed with Gedichte von Friederich Schiller, Zweiter Theil, Zweite, verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage, Leipzig, 1805, bei Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius, page 150.

First published in Anthologie auf das Jahr 1782, anonymously edited by Schiller with the fake publishing information "Gedrukt in der Buchdrukerei zu Tobolsko", actually published by Johann Benedict Metzler in Stuttgart. The poem (page 147) has "Y." as the author's name.

1 omitted by Schubert (D 396)
2 Schubert (D 583): "dumpfig tief ein"; Schubert (D 396): "ein dumpfig tiefes"

by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805)
1. Group from Tartarus
Language: English 
Hark - like the murmuring of the angry sea,
like a brook weeping through hollow, rocky gullies,
you can hear over there, deeply muffled, a heavy, toneless
groan, extracted with torment!

Pain contorts
their faces, despair opens
their jaws with curses.
Hollow are their eyes: their gaze
rests anxiously on Cocytus' bridge,
and they follows Cocytus' sad course with tears.

They ask one another softly with fear
whether the end has not yet come!
Eternity whirls above them in circles,
breaking Saturn's scythe in two.

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: 14
Word count: 84

Translation © by Emily Ezust
2. Anakreons Grab  [sung text not yet checked]
by (Olav) Fartein Valen (1887 - 1952), "Anakreons Grab", op. 31 (Zwei Lieder für Sopran und Klavier) no. 2 (1939) [ soprano and piano ]
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wo die Rose hier blüht, wo Reben um Lorbeer sich schlingen,
  Wo das Turtelchen lockt, wo sich das Grillchen ergötzt,
Welch ein Grab ist hier, das alle Götter mit Leben
  Schön bepflanzt und geziert? Es ist Anakreons Ruh.
Frühling, Sommer, und Herbst genoß der glückliche Dichter,
  Vor dem Winter hat ihn endlich der Hügel geschützt.

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Confirmed with Goethe's Gedichte, Hamburg, Gedruckt bey Friedrich Hermann Nestler, Hamburg, 1813, page 145.


by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
2. Anacreon's grave
Language: English 
Here, where the rose blooms, where vines entwine the laurel,
  Where the turtledove flirts, where the cricket delights -
What grave is this here, that all the gods 
  Have so beautifully graced with verdant life? It is Anacreon's resting-place.
Spring, summer, and autumn did that happy poet enjoy;
  From winter, at last, has this mound protected him.

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: 6
Word count: 56

Translation © by Emily Ezust