by Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (1762 - 1834)
Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Die Herbstnacht
 (Sung text for setting by F. Schubert)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
Mit leisen Harfentönen
Sey, Wehmuth, mir gegrüßt!
O Nymphe, die der Thränen
Geweihten Quell verschließt!
Mich weht an deiner Schwelle
Ein linder Schauer an,
Und deines Zwielichts Helle
Glimmt auf des Schicksals Bahn.

Du, so die Freude weinen,
Die Schwermuth lächeln heißt,
Kannst Wonn' und Schmerz vereinen,
Daß Harm in Lust verfleußt;
Du hellst bewölkte Lüfte
Mit Abendsonnenschein,
Hängst Lampen in die Grüfte
Und krönst den Leichenstein.

Du nahst, wenn schon die Klage
Den Busen sanfter dehnt,
Der Gram an Sarkophage
Die müden Schläfe lehnt;
Wenn die Geduld gelassen
Sich an die Hoffnung schmiegt,
Der Zähren Thau im nassen,
Schmerzlosen Blick versiegt.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3 of the original text.

Composition:

    Set to music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Die Herbstnacht", D 404 (1816), published 1885, stanzas 1-3 [ voice, piano ], first published by Friedlaender with the title "Die Wehmuth" with stanzas 1 and 8.

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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 © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 64
Word count: 255

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
With gentle notes on the harp
Let me greet you, melancholy!
Oh nymph, you who control tears
And lock up their consecrated source!
On your threshold I feel
A gentle shudder go through me,
And the brightness of your twilight
Glows over the course of destiny.

You, just as you cause people to weep at joy
And see melancholy as something to smile about,
Can unite pleasure and pain,
So that grief can turn into delight;
You brighten cloudy skies
With evening sunshine,
You hang lamps in vaults
And you crown the gravestone.

You approach whenever laments have already
Extended the breast more gently,
Whenever sorrow by the sarcophagus
Presses on tired temples;
When patience allows itself
To snuggle up to hope,
The wet dew of tears 
Dries up and vision becomes painless.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Malcolm Wren, (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: 

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2017-07-20
Line count: 64
Word count: 354