by Karl Johann Hentschel
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Nur einmal blüht die Stunde
 (Sung text for setting by C. Bohm)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
So du ein Herz gefunden,
Das Liebe hegt und trägt,
Und so du selbst empfunden,
Wie Lieb' im Busen schlägt:
So gib dem schönen Bunde
Mit Freuden deine Hand --
Nur einmal blüht die Stunde,
Wo Herz zu Herz sich fand.

Und siehst du wo zwei Herzen 
In stiller Liebe glüh'n,
Um nimmer sie zu quälen,
Mußt Du von dannen zieh'n.
Wie oft durch And'rer Kunde
Zerriß das schöne Band --
Nur einmal blüht die Stunde,
Wo Herz zu Herz sich fand.

Was liebend sich vereinet,
O brich es nicht entzwei,
Es blühet für die Liebe
Ja nur ein einz'ger Mai,
Viel Blumen blüh'n im Grunde
Und blühen an dem Strand:
Nur einmal blüht die Stunde,
Wo Herz zu Herz sich fand.

Composition:

    Set to music by Carl Bohm (1844 - 1920), "Nur einmal blüht die Stunde", op. 245

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English [singable] (Louis Charles Elson) , "But once can come the hour"
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2021-05-10
Line count: 24
Word count: 124

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
If you have found a heart
That bears and cherishes love,
And if you yourself have felt
How love pulses in your breast:
Then with joy offer 
Your hand to the lovely bond --
The hour blossoms only once
In which two hearts find each other.

And if somewhere you see two hearts
Glowing in quiet love,
In order never to torment them
You must take yourself off.
How often through the words of others
The lovely bond was torn --
The hour blossoms only once
In which two hearts find each other.

Those who have lovingly united,
Oh, do not divide them,
Because for love, there 
Only blooms a single Maytime,
Many flowers bloom in the vale
And bloom along the shore:
The hour blossoms only once
In which two hearts find each other.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (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:

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This text was added to the website: 2025-12-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 137