Why are you so far away?

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff (1799 - 1851)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Warum bist du so ferne?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Warum bist du so ferne?
O mein Lieb!
Es leuchten mild die Sterne
O mein Lieb!
Der Mond will schon sich neigen
In seinem stillen Reigen.
Gute Nacht, mein süßes Lieb,
O mein Lieb!

  Es rauschen sanft die Wogen,
O mein Lieb!
Gleich ihnen fortgezogen,
Bist du, Lieb!
Ich wandle stumm im Haine
Und klag's dem Mondenscheine.
Gute Nacht, mein süßes Lieb!
O mein Lieb!

  Es regen sich im Herzen,
O mein Lieb!
Die alten, bösen Schmerzen,
O mein Lieb!
Sie freuen und sie kränken,
Denn ich muß dein gedenken,
Du fernes, süßes Lieb!
O mein Lieb!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Banck • A. Marschner • B. Molique

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with O. L. B. Wolff, Schriften I. Romane, Novellen und Erzählungen., Band XIV Gedichte und poetische Uebersetzungen, Jena: Druck und Verlag von Friedrich Mauke, 1843, page 104.

Text Authorship:

by Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff (1799 - 1851), "In der Ferne" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Go to the general view

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

This text was added to the website: 2011-07-21
Line count: 24
Word count: 106

Why are you so far away?

NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Why are you so far away?
Oh my love!
The stars are shining benignly,
Oh my love!
The moon already wishes to bow down
In its quiet roundelay.
Good night, my sweet love,
Oh my love!

  The waves are rushing softly,
Oh my love!
Gone away like them
Have you, love!
I wander about mutely in the grove
And lament it to the moonlight.
Good night, my sweet love,
Oh my love!

  In my heart are stirring,
Oh my love!
The old, evil pangs,
Oh my love!
They gladden and they wound me,
For I must think of you,
You faraway, sweet love!
Oh my love!

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of title(s):
"Gute Nacht" = "Good night"
"In der Ferne" = "In the distance"
"Ständchen" = "Serenade"
"Warum bist du so ferne" = "Why are you so far away"
"Warum so fern" = "Why so far away"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff (1799 - 1851), "In der Ferne"
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2020-03-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 114