See und Sternlein
Language: German (Deutsch)
In der allerbängsten Stunde,
Wenn ich von dir ferne bin,
Malt' auf meiner Seele Grunde
Ich so gern dein Bildnis hin.
Möcht' in seligem [Genüge]1
Blicken auf dein Augenpaar,
Deine liebe, lieben Züge
Möcht' ich schauen scharf und klar.
Doch in [Wehen, doch in Wonnen]2
Wogt das Herz so stürmisch laut,
Und dein Bildnis ist zerronnen,
Eh's mein Auge hat erschaut.
Wie ein Sternlein, das da winket
Von der Höh' mit sanfter Glut,
Helle dir entgegenblinket
Aus des Sees klarer Fluth, --
Alsobald muss es verglimmen,
Wenn die Welle woget auf,
Und sein Bildnis muss verschwimmen
In der Wogen wildem Lauf.
Doch am Himmel hoch, dem klaren,
Bleibt das Sternlein immer stehn,
Wird nach tausend, tausend Jahren
In des Sees Fluten sehn.
View text without footnotes
Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, pages 186-187.
1 Randhardtinger: "Genügen"
2 Randhardtinger: "Wehe, doch in Wonne"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Lake and little star", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs
[Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2022-08-05
Line count: 24
Word count: 123
Lake and little star
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
In the most anxious of hours,
When I am far away from you,
Upon the depths of my soul I would
So gladly draw your image.
In blessed contentment I would like
To gaze upon your eyes,
Your dear, dear lineaments
I would like to see sharply and clearly.
But in [sorrows, but in delights]1
My heart surges so loudly and stormily,
And your image has faded away
Before my eyes have seen it.
As a little star that beckons
From on high with a gentle glow,
[That] brightly twinkles toward you
From the clear waters of the lake, --
It must be extinguished forthwith
When the wave surges up,
And its image must dissolve
In the wild flowing of the waves.
But high upon the sky, the clear [sky],
The little star always remains in place,
After a thousand, thousand years
It shall [still] gaze into the waters of the lake.
View text without footnotes
1 Randhardtinger: "sorrow, but in delight"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 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:
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-09
Line count: 24
Word count: 152
