Night is no man’s friend

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by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Nacht ist keines Menschen Freund

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Die Nacht ist keines Menschen Freund --
Was flüsterst du von Treue?
Der Mond erblaßt, der Morgen graut . . .
Am Bette sitzt die Reue.

Die Reue ist ein häßlich Weib
Und möcht' mich wohl verderben --
Reiß mir das Herz nicht aus dem Leib,
Ich will ja noch nicht sterben.

Mein Blut ist heiß, dein Mund so süß . . .
O Gott, wie kannst du küssen!
Das hat die Sommernacht gethan,
Daß wir versinken müssen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• K. Szymanowski

About the headline (FAQ)

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Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart und Berlin: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 168.

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Das hat die Sommernacht gethan", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Nach Jahren, no. 6 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-01-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 78

Night is no man’s friend

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

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Night is no man’s friend --
What do you whisper of faithfulness?
The moon grows pale, the morning dawns . . .
By my bed sits rue.

Rue is an ugly crone
And would quite like to destroy me --
Do not tear my heart out of my body,
I do not want to die yet.

My blood is hot, your mouth so sweet . . .
Oh God, how you can kiss!
That was wrought by the summer night,
That we must sink into the depths.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of title(s):
"Das hat die Sommernacht getan" = "That was wrought by the summer night"
"Das hat die Sommernacht gethan" = "That was wrought by the summer night"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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 Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Das hat die Sommernacht gethan", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Nach Jahren, no. 6
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 87