by Johann Peter Hebel (1760 - 1826)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Neujahrslied
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG
Mit der Freude zieht der Schmerz
Traulich durch die Zeiten,
Schwere Stürme, milde Weste,
Bange Sorgen, frohe Feste
Wandeln sich zur Seiten.
 
   Und wo manche Thräne fällt,
Blüht auch [eine]1 Rose,
Schon gemischt, noch eh' wir's bitten,
Ist für Thronen und für Hütten
Schmerz und Lust im Loose.
 
   War's nicht so im alten Jahr?
Wird's im neuen enden?
Sonnen wallen auf und nieder,
Wolken geh'n und kommen wieder,
Und kein Wunsch wird's wenden.
 
   Gebe denn, der über uns
Wägt mit rechter Waage,
Jedem Sinn für seine Freuden,
Jedem Mut für seine Leiden,
In die neuen Tage.
 
  Jedem auf des Lebens Pfad
Einen Freund zur Seite,
Ein zufriedenes Gemüthe,
Und zu stiller Herzensgüte
Hoffnung in's Geleite.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   F. Mendelssohn 

F. Mendelssohn sets stanzas 1-4

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Hebel's Werke, zweite Ausgabe in drei Bänden, Erster Band, Karlsruhe: Verlag der Chr. Fr. Müller'schen Hofbuchhandlung, 1853, page 239.

1 Mendelssohn: "manche"

Text Authorship:

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

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó d'any nou", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lau Kanen) , "Nieuwjaarslied", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "New Year's song", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-27
Line count: 25
Word count: 116

New Year's song
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
With joy travels pain
Intimately [linked] through the times,
Heavy storms, mild westwinds,
Uneasy anxieties, joyful festivals
Walk side by side.
 
   And where many a tear falls,
[A]1 rose also blooms;
Already blended, even before we ask,
For thrones and for hovels
Are the lots of pain and joy.
 
   Was it not thus in the old year?
Shall it end in the new?
Suns rise and sink,
Clouds depart and return once more,
And no wishing shall change things.
 
   May then He, who over us
Measures with an accurate scale,
Give everyone the sense for his joys,
Everyone the courage for his suffering,
In the new days.
 
   [Give to] everyone upon life's pathway
A friend at his side,
A contented spirit,
And for quiet goodness of the heart
The attendance of hope.

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Mendelssohn: "Many a"

Text 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:

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-16
Line count: 25
Word count: 133