Already the birds are returning

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by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Schon kehren die Vögel wieder ein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

  Schon kehren die Vögel wieder ein,
Es schallen die alten Lieder,
Ach, die fröhliche Jugend mein,
Kommt die wohl auch noch wieder?

  Ich weiß nicht, was ich so thöricht bin!
Wolken im Herbstwind jagen,
Die Vögel ziehn über die [Wälder]¹ hin,
Das klang wie in Frühlingstagen.

  Dort auf dem Berg, da steht ein Baum,
Drin jubeln die Wandergäste,
Er aber, müde, rührt wie im Traum
Noch einmal Wipfel und Äste.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• O. Schoeck

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Joseph Freiherrn von Eichedorffs sämtliche poetische Werke, Dritte Auflage, Erster Band. Gedichte, Leipzig: C.F. Amelang’s Verlag, 1883, pages 238-239.

¹ Schoeck: "Felder"

Text Authorship:

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), no title, appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe, in Nachklänge, no. 3 [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 Egon Kornauth (1891 - 1959), "Nachklänge", op. 37 (Sechs Lieder nach Eichendorff) no. 3 (1932) [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Nachklang", op. 36 no. 14 (1923) [ voice and chamber orchestra ], from Elegie: Liederfolge nach Gedichten von Nikolaus Lenau und Joseph von Eichendorff, no. 14, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 72

Already the birds are returning

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 Already the birds are returning,
The old songs ring out,
Ah, my joyful youth,
Shall it too ever return?

  I know not why I am so foolish!
Clouds are scudding in the autumn wind,
The birds pass over the [forests]¹,
That sounded like in days of spring.

  There upon the mountain stands a tree,
Within it the wandering guests are rejoicing,
But the tree, tired, as if in a dream
Stirs once more its crown and branches.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translations of title(s):
"Nachklänge = "Lingering sounds"
"Nachklang" = "Lingering sound"

¹ Schoeck: "fields"

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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), no title, appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe, in Nachklänge, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 80