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 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 text with all available 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"

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 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 text with all available footnotes

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

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