by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Theodore Martin, Sir, KCB KCVO (1816 - 1909)
Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht
Language: German (Deutsch)
Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Das Leben ist der schwüle Tag. Es dunkelt schon, mich schläfert, Der Tag hat mich müd gemacht. Über mein Bett erhebt sich ein Baum, Drin singt die junge Nachtigall; Sie singt von lauter Liebe - Ich hör es sogar im Traum.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 87, first published 1826/7
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Death is the cool night", copyright © 2019
- ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
- ENG English [singable] (Daniel Platt) , "O Death, that is the cooling night", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Milla Valkeasuo) , "Kuolema on kylmä yö", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Ελενη Θεοδωριδου) , "Ο θάνατος είναι η κρύα νύχτα", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "המוות דומה ללילה הקריר", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La morte è una notte fresca", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Sergio Sarano) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "La muerte es la fría noche", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 47
Oh Death, it is the cold, cold night See original
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Oh, death it is the cold, cold night,
And life it is the sultry day;
It is growing dusk, I am drowsy--
The long, long day has tired me quite.
Over my bed there arches a tree;
There sings the early nightingale--
She sings of love the whole night long;
Her song comes even in my dreams ... .
Confirmed with Poems and Ballads by Heinrich Heine done into English verse by Theodore Martin, C.B., Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, MDCCCLXXVII (1877), page 181.
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
Composition:
- Set to music by Frances Allitsen (1848 - 1912), "Oh Death, it is the cold, cold night", published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from Album of Eight Songs [later reissued as Eight Songs from Poems by Heine], no. 7, London, R. Cocks, also set in German (Deutsch)
Text Authorship:
- by Theodore Martin, Sir, KCB KCVO (1816 - 1909), "Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht"
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 87, first published 1826/7
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2012-10-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 62