Summer lightning | Summer lightning flashes feverishly in the distance

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wetterleuchten

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Wetterleuchten fiebert fern,
Der Jasmin mit sonderbaren
Lichtern wie ein scheuer Stern
Schimmert bleich in deinen Haaren.

Deiner wundersamen Macht,
Deiner schweren, sternelosen,
Opfern Küsse wir und Rosen,
Atemlose, schwüle Nacht.

Küsse ohne Glück und Glanz,
Die wir kaum geküßt bereuen -
Rosen, die in trübem Tanz
Überreife Blätter streuen.

Nacht, die ohne Tau vergeht!
Liebe ohne Glück noch Tränen!
Über uns ein Wetter steht,
Das wir fürchten und ersehnen.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 60-61.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Wetterleuchten", written 1901, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in Buch der Liebe, first published 1919 [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 Rudolf Brömel (b. 1877), "Wetterleuchten", published 1945-8 [ voice and piano ], from Hermann Hesse Lieder, no. 15 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Summer lightning", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Éclairs", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website: 2007-06-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 69

Summer lightning

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Summer lightning flashes feverishly in the distance,
Jasmine, with peculiar lights
Like a shy star
Shimmers palely in your hair.

To your wondrous power,
To your heavy, starless [power]
We offer up kisses and roses,
Breathless, humid night.

Kisses without joy and radiance,
Which, barely kissed, we already regret -
Roses, that in a dreary dance
Scatter their overripe petals.

Night that passes without dew!
Love with neither joy nor tears!
Above us threatens a storm
That we fear and for which we yearn.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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 Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Wetterleuchten", written 1901, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in Buch der Liebe, first published 1919
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-10-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 83