In the churchyard | The day was heavy with rain and disturbed by storms

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by Detlev von Liliencron (1844 - 1909)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Auf dem Kirchhofe

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

Der Tag ging regenschwer und sturmbewegt,
Ich war an manch [vergessenem]¹ Grab gewesen,
Verwittert Stein und Kreuz, die Kränze alt,
Die Namen überwachsen, kaum zu lesen.

Der Tag ging sturmbewegt und regenschwer,
Auf allen Gräbern fror das Wort: Gewesen.
Wie sturmestot die Särge schlummerten,
Auf allen Gräbern taute still: Genesen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Brahms

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Detlev von Liliencron, Adjutantenritte, Zweite Auflage, Berlin, Schuster & Loeffler, 1896, page 31.

¹ Brahms: "vergeßnem"

Text Authorship:

by Detlev von Liliencron (1844 - 1909), "Auf dem Kirchhofe", appears in Adjudantenritte [author's text checked 1 time 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Auf dem Kirchhofe", op. 105 (Fünf Lieder) no. 4 (1887/8), published 1888 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
by E. Gottschalk , "Auf dem Kirchhofe" [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Al cementiri", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Op het kerkhof", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "In the churchyard", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Au cimetière", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Al cimitero", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

In the churchyard

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The day was heavy with rain and disturbed by storms;
I was walking among many forgotten graves,
with weathered stones and crosses, the wreaths old,
the names washed away, hardly to be read.

The day was disturbed by storms and heavy with rain;
on every grave froze the words "we were."
The coffins slumbered calmly like the eye of a storm,
and on every grave melted quietly the words: "we were healed."

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Detlev von Liliencron (1844 - 1909), "Auf dem Kirchhofe", appears in Adjudantenritte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 72