You are wilting, sweet roses

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Erwin

(Sung text for setting by F. Hensel)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT CAT CHI DUT ENG FRE SPA

Erwin
 Ihr verblühet, süße Rosen,
 Meine Liebe trug euch nicht;
 Blühet, ach! dem Hoffnungslosen,
 Dem der Gram die Seele bricht!

 Der auf erste Knöspchen lauernd
 früh zu seinem Garten ging,
 ach der Tage denk ich trauernd,
 als ich Engel an dir hing.

 Alle Blüten, alle Früchte
 Noch zu deinen Füßen trug
 Und vor deinem Angesichte
 Hoffnung mir im Herzen schlug.

 Ihr verblühet, süße Rosen,
 Meine Liebe trug euch nicht;
 Blühtet, ach! dem Hoffnungslosen,
 Dem der Gram die Seele bricht.

Note: in Perfall's score, there are two typos: stanza 2, line 4, word 5 is "hin" instead of "ging"; and stanza 3, line 4, word 5 is "trug" instead of "schlug".

Composition:

Fanny Hensel

Sechs Lieder

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Wehmut", appears in Erwin und Elmire

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (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) , no title, copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , "El tiempo de las rosas", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 81

Erwin

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Hensel)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Add this translation to your Reprint Basket | Add tr by F. Hensel

Erwin
 You are wilting, sweet roses -
 my love could not sustain you.
 Bloom for hopelessness then,
 for he whose soul is breaking from sorrow! 

 Bloom for him who waits for your first bud,
 going to his garden early;
 alas, I think mournfully of those days
 when I hung on you, my angel.

 Every blossom, every fruit
 I carried to your feet;
 and before your countenance,
 hope throbbed in my heart.

 You are wilting, sweet roses -
 my love could not sustain you.
 Bloom for hopelessness then,
 for he whose soul is breaking from sorrow!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, (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.

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Wehmut", appears in Erwin und Elmire
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 91