The double | Still is the night, the alleys are sleeping

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Fredric Kroll

Der Doppelgänger

(Sung text for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG ENG FIN FRE GRE ITA KOR LIT NOR SPA

Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen,
In diesem Hause wohnte mein Schatz;
Sie hat schon längst die Stadt verlassen,
Doch steht noch das Haus auf demselben Platz.

Da steht auch ein Mensch und starrt in die Höhe,
Und ringt die Hände, vor Schmerzensgewalt;
Mir graust es, wenn ich sein Antlitz sehe, -
Der Mond zeigt mir meine eigne Gestalt.

Du Doppelgänger! du bleicher Geselle!
Was äffst du nach mein Liebesleid,
Das mich gequält auf dieser Stelle,
So manche Nacht, in alter Zeit?

First published as number VI of Drei und dreißig Gedichte von H. Heine in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Achter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1824. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Freitag den 26. März. 49stes Blatt, page 243.

Composition:

Franz Peter Schubert

Schwanengesang

IMSLP

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1823-24, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 20, first published 1824

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El doble", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lau Kanen) , "De dubbelganger", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "Nemesis", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Fredric Kroll) , "The double", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Leon Malinofsky) , "The Spirit Double", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , "Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, pages 94-95, first published 1887
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le Sosie", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Athanasios Papaisiou) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il sosia", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "그림자", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 88

The double

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Still is the night, the alleys are sleeping,
Here in this house my sweetheart once lived;
She left the city a long time ago,
The house is still standing, in the same place.

A man also stands there, his eyes staring upwards,
Wringing his hands, with anguish wracked.
I am awe-struck when I behold his count'nance,
The moon shows me my own features, my form.

Thou frightful double, thou pallid companion!
Why dost thou ape my suffering
That tortured me here, at this same spot
So many nights in times of yore?

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2005 by Fredric Kroll, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Fredric Kroll. Contact: fredrickroll (AT) hotmail (DOT) com
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1823-24, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 20, first published 1824
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This text was added to the website: 2005-10-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 92