Süsser Tod komm | Süßer Tod, süßer Tod, komm

Translation by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803)

Come away, come away, death

Language: English

Our translations: DUT GER ITA NOR

Come away, come away, death,
  And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away, breath;
  I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
  O prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
  Did share it.

Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
  On my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
  My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown:
A thousand, thousand sighs to save,
  Lay me, O where
Sad true lover never find my grave,
  To weep there!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• D. Amram • D. Argento • M. Dring • V. Fine • W. Fortner • E. Korngold • J. Leguerney • S. Wilkinson

V. Fine sets stanza 1

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Text Authorship:

by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, scene 4 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 107

Süßer Tod, süßer Tod, komm

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Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Süßer Tod, süßer Tod, komm,
  Komm, senk mich nieder ins kühle Grab!
Brich, o Herz brich, o Herz fromm,
  Stirb fromm der süßen Tyrannin ab!
    Mein Gruftgewand schneeweiß und rein,
      Legt es fertig!
    Kein Bräut'gam hüllte je sich drein
      So fröhlich.

Keine Blum', keine Blum' süß
  Sollt ihr auf'n schwarzen Sarg mir streun!
Keine Thrän', keine Thrän' fließ,
  Wo sanft wird ruhn mein Todtenbein!
    Ah tausend, tausend Seufzer schwer --
      Nein -- ihr Meinen,
    Legt hin mich, wo kein Liebender
      Kommt weinen.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• C. Elling

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803), written 1826 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, scene 4
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2012-02-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 85