The fair night | Now I leave this hut

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Die schöne Nacht

(Sung text for setting by B. Randhartinger)

See base text

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CHI ENG FRE

Nun verlaß ich diese Hütte,
Meiner Liebsten Aufenthalt,
Wandle mit verhülltem Schritte
Durch den öden, finstern Wald:
Luna bricht durch Busch und Eichen,
Zephyr meldet ihren Lauf,
Und die Birken streun mit Neigen
Ihr den süßten Weihrauch auf.

Wie ergötz' ich mich im Kühlen
Dieser schönen Sommernacht!
O wie still ist's hier zu fühlen,
Was die Seele glücklich macht!
Läßt sich kaum die Wonne fassen,
Und doch wollt' ich, Himmel, dir
Tausend solcher Nächte lassen,
Gäb' mein Mädchen Eine mir.

Composition:

Benedikt Randhartinger

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Die schöne Nacht"

See other settings of this text.

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

CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The fair night", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La belle nuit", copyright © 2012, (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: 16
Word count: 81

The fair night

(Sung text translation for setting by B. Randhartinger)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Now I leave this hut,
my dearest's abode,
and wander with furtive step
through the dark, bleak wood.

Luna breaks through bush and oak,
Zephyr announces her way,
and the bending birches strew 
the sweetest incense after her.

How I delight in the coolness
of this fair summer's night!
O how still one can feel here,
and how happy it makes the soul!

One can hardly grasp this bliss,
and yet I would, o Heaven,
give up a thousand such nichts
if my sweetheart would give me just one.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Die schöne Nacht"
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 89