English translations of Lyrics from the German : Fünf Volkslieder, opus 14

by Louis Edgar Johns (1886 - ?)

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1. Es fiel ein Reif  [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Edgar Johns (1886 - ?), "Es fiel ein Reif", op. 14 (Lyrics from the German : Fünf Volkslieder) no. 1, published 1916
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)
1. 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.

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  • 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.

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 61

Translation © by David Kenneth Smith