Winter song | No flowers bloom

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by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Winterlied

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

Keine Blumen blühn;
Nur das Wintergrün
Blickt durch Silberhüllen;
Nur das Fenster füllen
[Blümchen]¹ roth und weiß,
Aufgeblüht aus Eis.
 
Ach! kein Vogelsang
Tönt mit frohem Klang;
Nur die Winterweise
Jener kleinen Meise,
Die am Fenster schwirrt,
Und um Futter girrt.
 
Minne flieht den Hain,
Wo die Vögelein
Sonst im grünen Schatten
Ihre Nester hatten;
Minne flieht den Hain,
Kehrt ins Zimmer ein.
 
Kalter Januar,
Hier werd' ich fürwahr,
Unter Minnespielen,
Deinen Frost nicht fühlen!
Walte immerdar,
Kalter Januar!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Besorgt durch seine Freunde Friederich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg und Johann Heinrich Voß. Hamburg, bei Carl Ernst Bohn. 1783, pages 138-139; and with Poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1778. Herausgegeben von Joh. Heinr. Voß. Hamburg, bey Carl Ernst Bohn, pages 8-9.

First published in this version edited by Voß. Hölty's original version is slightly different; see below.

¹ Schubert: "Blumen"

Authorship:

by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), "Winterlied", written 1773, first published 1778 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by August Harder (1775 - 1813), "Winterlied", op. 1 (Gesänge für die Guitarre) no. [6] [ voice and guitar ], Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Winterlied", D 401 (1816), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Otto Taubert (1833 - 1903), "Winterlied", op. 4 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], Köln, Reinhardt [sung text not yet checked]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

Go to the text. [ view differences ]

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

Research team for this text: Richard Morris , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 79

Winter song

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

   No flowers bloom;
Only the wintergreen
Peeps through a silvery cloak;
Only the windows are filled
With flowers red and white,
That have burgeoned from the frost.
 
   Ah, no birdsong
Sounds with a joyful tone;
Only the winter lay
Of that little chickadee
That flutters at the window
And coos for food.
 
   Love flees the grove
Where the little birds
In the green shadows
Had their nests in former days;
Love flees the grove
And comes indoors.
 
   Cold January,
Here under the play of love
I shall truly not feel
Your frost!
Last forever,
Cold January!

Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), "Winterlied", written 1773, first published 1778

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-16
Line count: 24
Word count: 97