I cannot tell you the reason why

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Patrick John Corness

Die Loreley

(Sung text for setting by F. Liszt)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: DUT ENG ENG FIN FRE GRE HUN POR SPA

  Ich weiß nicht, was soll's bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

  Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt
Im Abendsonnenschein.

  Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

  Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme
Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
Gewalt'ge Melodei.

  Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh'.

  Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die Lorelei gethan.

Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], pages 116-117.

Composition:

Franz (Ferenc) Liszt

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 2

See other settings of this text.

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

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Walter Meyer) , no title, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
ENG English [singable] (Arthur Westbrook) , "The Loreley"
ENG English [singable] (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) , "The lorelei", appears in A Tramp Abroad, Volume 1, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, p. 123-4, first published 1880
ENG English (Patrick John Corness) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
POL Polish (Polski) (Aleksander Kraushar) , no title, appears in Pieśni Heinego, in Powrót, no. 2
POR Portuguese (Português) (Margarida Moreno) , "A Loreley", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
RUS Russian (Русский) (Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak) , "Лорелей"
SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfredo García) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 132

I cannot tell you the reason why

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Liszt)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I cannot tell you the reason why
I am feeling so sad;
Some tale they told in years gone by
Stays forever in my head.

The air is cool and dusk is near,
And calmly flows the Rhine;
The mountain peak looms bright and clear
In the evening sunshine.

Up above sits a maiden,
She’s the fairest of fair,
Her jewels sparkling all golden;
She’s combing her golden hair.

With her golden comb she keeps combing,
Singing a song meanwhile,
A melody all beguiling,
In haunting, beautiful style.

The sailor in his little skiff
Is seized by a wild torment;
He sees not the threatening cliff,
His gaze only upwards is bent.

Seems under the waves will be sinking
In the end sailor and boat;
And all because of her singing;
It’s the Lorelei’s fault.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Patrick John Corness, (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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 2
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This text was added to the website: 2023-08-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 135