The moon has come lamenting

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by Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821 - 1891)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Klagen ist der Mond gekommen

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE ITA SPA

Klagen ist der Mond gekommen
Vor der Sonne Angesicht,
Soll ihm noch der Himmel frommen,
Da du Glanz ihm nahmst und Licht?

Seine Sterne ging er zählen,
Und er will vor Leid vergehn:
Zwei der schönsten Sterne fehlen,
Die in Deinem Antlitz stehn.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Jenner • A. Zemlinsky

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Confirmed with Ferdinand Gregorovius, Wanderjahre in Italien, Erster Band, Figuren. Geschichte, Leben und Scenerie aus Italien, Vierte Auflage, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1874, page 309.

Text Authorship:

by Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821 - 1891), no title, appears in Wanderjahre in Italien, in Toscanische Melodieen, no. 8 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "La luna s'è venuta a lamentare", appears in Canti popolari toscani. Raccolti e annotati da Giuseppe Tigri, Firenze, Barbera, first published 1856
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 44

The moon has come lamenting

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

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 The moon has come lamenting
 before the gaze of the sun:
 What use to her are the heavens
 if you have taken away her radiance and light? 
 
 She went to count her stars,
 and she will die for sorrow:
 two of the fairest stars are missing -
 those that belong to your face.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Klagen ist der Mond gegangen" = "The moon has gone lamenting"
"Klagen ist der Mond gekommen" = "The moon has come lamenting"
"Toskanisches Volkslied" = "Tuscan Folksong"

Note for stanza 1, line 3, word 4, "her": in German, the moon is masculine, but in English poetic tradition (and French), the moon is feminine.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821 - 1891), no title, appears in Wanderjahre in Italien, in Toscanische Melodieen, no. 8
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "La luna s'è venuta a lamentare", appears in Canti popolari toscani. Raccolti e annotati da Giuseppe Tigri, Firenze, Barbera, first published 1856
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 53