Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
Als alle Knospen sprangen, 1 
Da [ist]2 in meinem Herzen
Die Liebe aufgegangen.

Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
Als alle Vögel sangen, 3
Da hab' ich ihr gestanden
Mein Sehnen und Verlangen.

In the wonderfully beautiful month of May
When all the buds are bursting open,
There, from my own heart,
Bursts forth my own love.

In the wonderfully beautiful month of May
When all the birds are singing,
So have I confessed to her
My yearning and my longing.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Paul Hindemith, (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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Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 1
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 48

Es schauen die Blumen alle
Zur leuchtenden Sonne hinauf;
Es nehmen die Ströme alle
Zum leuchtenden Meere den Lauf.

Es flattern die Lieder alle
Zu meinem leuchtenden Lieb -
Nehmt mit meine Tränen und Seufzer,
Ihr Lieder, wehmütig und trüb!

All the flowers gaze
up to the brilliant sun;
All the streams run
to the gleaming sea.

All songs flutter
to my bright love -
Take along with you my tears and sighs,
You songs so mournful and dreary!

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.
  licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Nachgelesene Gedichte 1812-1827, no. 31
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 38

Ich lauscht' dem Fink im grünen Haag,
Das hat mich so [bethört]1.
Ach, hätt' ich auf den lust'gen Schlag
Des Kecken nicht [gehört]2!

Er sang so süß von Lieb' und Glück,
Vom Küssen mir ins Ohr --
Vom Scheiden kam im ganzen Stück
Kein Sterbenswörtchen vor.

I listened to the finch in the green grove,
It beguiled me so.
Ah, had I only not harkened to
The jolly song of the jaunty one!

Into my ear, it sang so sweetly of love 
And happiness, of kissing --
Of parting there was not a single word
In the entire song.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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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Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Schelmenlied", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 33
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This text was added to the website: 2023-10-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 52

Das ist ein Brausen und Heulen,
Herbstnacht und Regen und Wind;
Wo mag wohl jetzo weilen
Mein armes, banges Kind?

Ich seh' sie am Fenster lehnen
Im einsamen Kämmerlein;
Das Auge gefüllt mit Tränen,
Starrt sie in die Nacht hinein.

It is roaring and howling,
this rainy, windy Fall night.
Where can she now be,
my woeful, fearful child?
 
I see her lean at the casement
in her lonely little room;
her eyes filled with tears,
she stares out into the night.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2012 by T. P. (Peter) Perrin, (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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Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 57
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This text was added to the website: 2012-02-28
Line count: 8
Word count: 42

  Sag mir, wer einst die Uhren erfund,
Die Zeitabteilung, Minuten und Stund'?
Das war ein frierend trauriger Mann.
Er saß in der Winternacht und sann,
Und zählte der Mäuschen heimliches Quicken
Und des Holzwurms ebenmäßiges Picken.

  Sag mir, wer einst das Küssen erfund?
Das war ein glühend glücklicher Mund;
Er küßte und dachte nichts dabei.
Es war im schönen Monat Mai,
Die Blumen sind aus der Erde gesprungen,
Die Sonne lachte, die Vögel sungen.

  Tell me, who invented clocks long ago,
The division of time, minutes and hours?
That was a chilly, sad man.
On a wintry night he sat and pondered
And tallied up the secretive squeaking of the little mice
And the evenly-spaced chomping of the termite.

  Tell me, who invented kissing long ago?
That was [a man] with a glowing, happy pair of lips;
He kissed and thought nothing of it.
It was in the beautiful month of May,
The flowers sprang up from out of the earth,
The sun laughed, the birds sang.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Neuer Frühling, no. 25
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Translated titles:
"Sag mir, wer einst die Uhren erfund" = "Tell me, who invented clocks long ago"
"Sag mir!" = "Tell me!"
"Sag mir wer einst das Küssen erfund" = "Tell me, who invented kissing long ago"

This text was added to the website: 2013-11-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 94

Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht,
Das Leben ist der schwüle Tag.
Es dunkelt schon, mich schläfert,
Der Tag hat mich müd gemacht.

Über mein Bett erhebt sich ein Baum,
Drin singt die junge Nachtigall;
Sie singt von lauter Liebe -
Ich hör es sogar im Traum.

Death is the cool night;
Life is the sultry day.
It is growing dark already, and I feel drowsy, 
The day has made me weary.

Above my bed stands a tree
In which the young nightingale sings;
It sings of sonorous love -
And I even hear it in my dreams.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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.
  licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 87, first published 1826/7
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 50