I wish my pain would flow into a single word | I wish my pain would flow

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Siân Goldthorpe, Christian Stein

Ich wollt, meine Schmerzen ergössen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE GRE GRE HEB

Ich wollt, meine Schmerzen ergössen
Sich all in ein einziges Wort,
Das gäb ich den lustigen Winden,
Die trügen es lustig fort.

Sie tragen zu dir, Geliebte,
Das schmerzerfüllte Wort;
Du hörst es zu jeder Stunde,
Du hörst es an jedem Ort.

Und hast du zum nächtlichen Schlummer
Geschlossen die Augen kaum,
So wird dich mein Wort verfolgen
Bis in den tiefsten Traum.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Mendelssohn • M. Zenger

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Note: in Zenger's score, the first time we reach stanza 1, line 2, word 5, it is "einzig", and "einziges" in the repetition.

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 61 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Siân Goldthorpe , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

I wish my pain would flow into a single word

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

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I wish my pain would flow
Into a single word,
Which I'd give to the merry winds,
Who would carry it merrily along.

They would carry it to you, my beloved, 
The pain-filled word;
You hear it always,
You hear it everywhere.

And scarcely have you closed your eyes 
To night-time slumbers,
My word will follow you,
Into your deepest dream.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Siân Goldthorpe and Christian Stein, (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 Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 61
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65