Bulbul (The nightingale) | Through frissons of awe the night-song of the nightingale

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Bulbuls Nachtlied durch die Schauer

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Bulbuls Nachtlied durch die Schauer
Drang zu Allahs lichtem Throne,
Und dem Wohlgesang zum Lohne
Sperrt' er sie in goldnen Bauer.
Dieser sind des Menschen Glieder.
Zwar sie fühlet sich beschränket:
Doch, wenn sie es recht bedenket,
Singt das Seelchen immer wieder.

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Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 10. Buch der Parabeln -- Mathal Nameh [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 Steven Ebel , "Bulbuls Nachtlied", 2010 [ tenor and orchestra ], from Divan songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Wilhelm Petersen (1890 - 1957), "Bulbul (Die Nachtigall)", alternate title: "Bulbul (Die Nachtigall)", op. 40 (Goethe-Lieder) no. 6, published 1941 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Bulbul (The nightingale)", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Matthias Gräff-Schestag

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 42

Bulbul (The nightingale)

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Through frissons of awe the night-song of the nightingale
Penetrated to Allah's bright throne,
And to reward the beautiful singing
He locked [the bird] in a golden cage.
These are the limbs of man.
To be sure the nightingale feels constrained:
But when it thinks about it carefully,
The little soul sings again and again.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 10. Buch der Parabeln -- Mathal Nameh
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 8
Word count: 55