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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Lev Aleksandrovich Mey (1822 - 1862)

Warum sind denn die Rosen so blaß?
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE FRE POR
Warum sind [denn]1 die Rosen so blaß?
O sprich mein Lieb warum?
Warum sind denn im grünen Gras
Die blauen Veilchen so stumm?

Warum singt denn mit so kläglichem Laut,
Die Lerche in der Luft?
Warum steigt denn aus dem Balsamkraut
Verwelkter Blütenduft?

Warum scheint denn die Sonn' auf die Au,
So kalt und verdrießlich herab?
Warum ist denn die Erde so grau,
Und öde wie ein Grab?

Warum bin ich selbst so krank und so trüb?
Mein liebes Liebchen sprich
O sprich mein herzallerliebstes Lieb,
Warum verließest du mich?

P. Cornelius sets stanzas 1-2, 4
M. Zenger sets stanzas 1, 3-4

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 129.

1 Zenger: "doch"

Text Authorship:

  • by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 23

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Perquè són les roses tan pàl·lides", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Why are the roses so pale?", copyright ©
  • ENG English (John Todhunter) , appears in Heine's Book of Songs, first published 1907
  • FRE French (Français) (Charles Beltjens) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 23, first published 1827
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Pourquoi les roses sont-elles si pâles?", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POR Portuguese (Português) (Axel Bergstedt) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 91

Отчего?
 (Sung text for setting by P. Tchaikovsky)
 Matches base text
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Отчего побледнела весной
пышноцветная роза сама?
Отчего под зелёной травой
голубая фиалка нема?

Отчего так печально звучит
песня птички, несясь в небеса?
Отчего над лугами висит
погребальным покровом роса?

Отчего в небе солнце с утра
холодно и темно, как зимой?
Отчего и земля вся сыра
и угрюмей могилы самой?

Отчего я и сам все грустней
и болезненней день ото дня?
Отчего, о, скажи мне скорей ты,
покинув, забыла меня?

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Composition:

    Set to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Отчего?", op. 6 (Шесть романсов = Shest' romansov (Six romances)) no. 5 (1869), published 1870 [ high voice and piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • by Lev Aleksandrovich Mey (1822 - 1862), no title, written 1858

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 23
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 69

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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