When your lips touch me

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 Karoline Louise von Klenke (1754 - 1802)

Translation © by David Gordon

Heimliches Lieben

(Sung text for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

O du, wenn deine Lippen mich berühren,
So will die Lust die Seele mir entführen;
Ich fühle tief ein namenloses Beben
Den Busen heben.

Mein Auge flammt, Gluth schwebt auf meinen Wangen,
Es schlägt mein Herz ein unbekannt Verlangen,
Mein Geist, verirrt in trunkner Lippen Stammeln
Kann kaum sich sammeln.

Mein Leben hängt in einer solchen Stunde
An Deinem süßen rosenweichen Munde,
Und will bei deinem trauten Armumfassen
Mich fast verlassen.

O! daß es doch nicht ausser sich kann fliehen,
Die Seele ganz in deiner Seele glühen!
Daß doch die Lippen, die vor Sehnsucht brennen
Sich müssen trennen!

Daß doch im Kuß mein Wesen nicht zerfliesset 
Wenn es so fest an deinen Mund sich schliesset, 
Und an dein Herz, das niemals laut darf wagen 
Für mich zu schlagen!

Note: First published anonymously in a different version in Iris. Dritter Band. Düsseldorf 1775, see below.

Composition:

Franz Peter Schubert

Text Authorship:

by Karoline Louise von Klenke (1754 - 1802), "An Myrtil", first published 1775

Go to the general single-text view

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (David Gordon) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: David Gordon , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 134

Secret love

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

When your lips touch me,
Desire would bear my soul away;
I feel a nameless trembling
Which swells my breast.

My eyes flame, a glow colors my cheeks;
My heart beats with an unknown longing;
My mind, lost in the stammering of my drunken lips
Can hardly compose itself.

In such a moment my life hangs
On your sweet lips, soft as roses,
And, in your dear embrace,
Life nearly deserts me.

Oh would that my life could escape from itself,
My soul aflame in yours!
Oh that lips burning with longing
Must part!

Oh that my being might not dissolve in kisses
When my lips are pressed so tightly to yours,
And to your heart, which might never dare
To beat aloud for me!

Translation of title "Heimliches Lieben" = "Secret love"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by David Gordon, (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 Karoline Louise von Klenke (1754 - 1802), "An Myrtil", first published 1775
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 125