Early death | Just as the waves come to rest

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sometimes misattributed to Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856) and by Friedrich Georg Christoph Philipp Mayer (1804 - 1857)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs, Harald Krebs

Frühes Sterben

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Wie die Wellen still sich legen
  Nach dem leichten Abendwind,
Wie die Mutter sorgsam wieget
  In den Schlaf ein liebes Kind;
 
Möchte ich mein heißes Sehnen
  In der Seele wiegen ein,
Und 'ne alte schlimme Klage
  Sollt' damit verklungen seyn.
 
Spielend mit den Frühlingsluften
  Wird die Blume rosenroth,
Aber in dem zarten Kelche
  Schlummert leis ihr früher Tod.
 
So geschieht's auch meiner Liebe
  In dem stets bewegten Herz,
Hat ihr Leben kaum begonnen,
  Fühlt sie schon des Todes Schmerz.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Lang

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Der Nürnberger Lustwandler. Ein Blatt für gesellige Unterhaltung, Nro. 56 (Donnerstag den 11. May 1837) page 223.

Text Authorship:

sometimes misattributed to Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
by Friedrich Georg Christoph Philipp Mayer (1804 - 1857), "Frühes Sterben" [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 Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Frühes Sterben", op. 26 (Sechs Lieder für Mezzosopran oder Alt) no. 4 (1838), published 1860 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) (Harald Krebs) , "Early death", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Joanna Lonergan , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2005-03-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 79

Early death

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Just as the waves come to rest
  After the soft evening breeze,
Just as a mother solicitously
  Rocks a dear child to sleep,
 
Thus would I like to rock to sleep
  The fervent yearning in my soul,
And an old, evil lament
  Would therewith have faded away.
 
Playing with the breezes of spring,
  The flower turns rose-red,
But in the tender chalice
  Quietly slumbers its early death.
 
Thus it happens to my love as well,
  In my ever-restless heart;
When its life has barely begun
  It already feels the pangs of death.

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs and Harald 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:

a text in German (Deutsch) misattributed to Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856) and by Friedrich Georg Christoph Philipp Mayer (1804 - 1857), "Frühes Sterben"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 92