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by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wenn aus der Ferne
 (Sung text for setting by G. Ligeti)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Wenn aus der Ferne, da wir geschieden sind,
  Ich dir noch kennbar bin,  ... 

So sage, wie erwartet die Freundin dich
  In jenen Gärten, da nach entsetzlicher
    Und dunkler Zeit wir uns gefunden?
       ...  Wie flossen Stunden dahin, wie still
  War meine Seele über der Wahrheit daß
    Ich so getrennt gewesen wäre?
       ... 

Wars Frühling? war es Sommer? die Nachtigall
  Mit süßem Liede lebte mit Vögeln, die
    Nicht ferne waren im Gebüsche
      Und mit Gerüchen umgaben Bäum' uns.

 ...  grünte der Epheu, grünt'
  Ein selig Dunkel hoher Alleeen. Oft
    Des Abends, Morgens waren dort wir
      Redeten manches und sahn uns froh an.

 ...  Ach! wehe mir!
    Es waren schöne Tage. Aber
      Traurige Dämmerung folgte nachher.

 ... 

Composition:

    Set to music by György Ligeti (1923 - 2006), "Wenn aus der Ferne" [ choral, a cappella ], from Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Wenn aus der Ferne...", appears in Späteste Gedichte 1806-1843

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 51
Word count: 326

When from out of the distance, when we...
 (Sung text translation for setting by G. Ligeti)
 See original
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
When from out of the distance, when we are parted,
  I am still recognizable to you,  ... 

Tell then, how does your lover await you
  In those gardens, since after a harrowing 
    And dark time, we found each other?
       ...  How the hours flowed away, how quiet
  Was my soul in regard to the truth that
    I would be thus separated from you?
       ... 

Was it springtime? was it summer? the nightingale
  With sweet song lived with birds that
    Were not far away in the bushes
      And wreathed the trees with scents

 ...  the ivy burgeoned, burgeoned
  A blessed darkness of lofty canopy roads.  Often
    In the evening, in the morning we were there,
      Talked of many things and gazed happily at each other.

In my arms the youth was revived,
  He, yet forsaken, came out of the realms
    To which he directed me, with a melancholy,
       But the names of the rare places

And everything beautiful he had remembered, that
  On blessed shores, also highly valued by me,
    Bloomed in our native land
      Or concealed, from a lofty perspective,

There where one can also survey the ocean,
  But where no one wishes to be.  Make do with it, and think
    Of her who is still content
      Because the delightful day shone upon us,

The day that began with confession or pressing of hands,
   ...  Ah! woe is me!
    They were beautiful days. But
      Mournful twilight followed.

 ... 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Wenn aus der Ferne...", appears in Späteste Gedichte 1806-1843
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2022-12-07
Line count: 51
Word count: 383

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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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