At my feet the red leaves are rustling

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by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Es rauscht das rote Laub zu meinen Füßen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Es rauscht das rote Laub zu meinen Füßen,
Doch wenn es wieder grünt, wo weil' ich dann?
Wo werden mich die ersten Schwalben grüßen?
Ach ferne, fern der Süßen,
Und nimmer bin ich mehr ein froher Mann.

Sonst sang ich stets durch Flur und Bergeshalde
Im braunen Herbst, in flock'ger Winterszeit:
O schöner Frühling, komm zu deinem Walde,
Komme balde, balde, balde!
Nun sing' ich: Schöner Frühling, bleibe weit!

Umsonst! Wie jetzt sich Heid' und Forst entkleiden,
So blühn sie neu; was kümmert sie mein Gram?
Das Veilchen kommt, ich muß es eben leiden,
Muß wandern und muß scheiden,
Doch o! wie leb' ich, wenn ich Abschied nahm!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Franz • F. Hensel • A. Oechsner

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Confirmed with Emanuel Geibel, Gesammelte Werke in acht Bänden, Erster Band. Jugendgedichte-Zeitstimmen-Sonette, Dritte Auflage, Stuttgart: Verlag der J.G. Cotta'schn Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1893, page 55.

Text Authorship:

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), no title, appears in Jugendgedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Lieder als Intermezzo, no. 40 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-10
Line count: 15
Word count: 121

At my feet the red leaves are rustling

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

At my feet the red leaves are rustling,
But when the leaves turn green again, where shall I be?
Where shall the first swallows greet me?
Ah far away, far from the sweet one,
And I shall nevermore be a happy man.

Once I always sang through meadow and mountain slope
In the brown autumn, in the snowy wintertime:
Oh lovely spring, come to your forest,
Come soon, soon, soon!
Now I sing:  Lovely spring, stay far away!

In vain! Just as now heath and forest are stripped,
So shall they bloom anew; what care they for my sorrow?
The violet comes, I must simply suffer it,
Must wander and must part,
But oh! how shall I live after I have taken farewell!

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Translations of title(s):
"Es rauscht das rothe Laub" = "The red leaves are rustling"
"Im Herbst" = "In autumn"
"Es rauscht das rothe Laub zu meinen Füssen" = "At my feet the red leaves are rustling"
"Es rauscht das rote Laub" = "The red leaves are rustling"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 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 Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), no title, appears in Jugendgedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Lieder als Intermezzo, no. 40
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2018-09-26
Line count: 15
Word count: 125