Our night watchman is a strange man

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by Theobald Kerner (1817 - 1907)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Unser Nachtwächter ist ein seltsamer...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Unser Nachtwächter ist ein seltsamer Mann,
Er schreit durch die Gassen so laut er nur kann:
   "Bewahre uns, Herr Jesu Christ,
   Der helle Tag erstanden ist!
   Wohl um die vier Uhr!"

Doch in der Vorstadt am letzten Haus,
Da geht ihm auf einmal die [Rede]¹ aus,
Er klopft an's Fenster und flüstert sacht:
   "Zwei Stunden noch bleibt's sinkende Nacht,
   Oeffne mir, Schatzerl!"

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Evers

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Theobald Kerner, Stuttgart: Hallberger’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1852, page 140, under the title "Nachtwächterlaune". Another edition has the title "Der Nachtwächter"

¹ Evers: "Stimme"

Text Authorship:

by Theobald Kerner (1817 - 1907), title 1: "Nachtwächterlaune", title 2: "Der Nachtwächter" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Carl Evers (1819 - 1875), "Der Nachtwächter", op. 41 (6 Gedichte von Theobald Kerner) no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-07
Line count: 10
Word count: 62

Our night watchman is a strange man

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Our night watchman is a strange man,
He shouts through the streets as loudly as ever he can:
   “Protect us, Lord Jesus Christ,
   The bright day has risen!
   Truly around four o’clock!”

But in the suburbs by the last house,
Suddenly his [speech]¹ dries up,
He knocks upon the window and whispers softly:
   “For two more hours the world shall remain sunken in night,
   Open up for me, sweetheart!”

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translated titles:
"Nachtwächterlaune" = "Moods of the night watchman"
"Der Nachtwächter" = "The night watchman"

¹ Evers: "voice"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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 Theobald Kerner (1817 - 1907), title 1: "Nachtwächterlaune", title 2: "Der Nachtwächter"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-06-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 69