The flower fades on the flowing floodwaters

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by Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Luise zu Wied, Prinzessin (1843 - 1916), as Carmen Sylva

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Blume verblühet auf fließender Fluth

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Die Blume verblühet auf fließender Fluth,
Der Ranke entrissen,
Sie fehlet dem Felsen, der Sonnengluth --
Wer wird sie vermissen?

Die Jugend enteilet auf ziehender Zeit,
Das Glück mit dem Winde,
Sie wehen und wandern und fliehen so weit --
Wer lebt, der sie binde?

Die Lieder verhallen, die Liebe vergeht,
Vom Schicksal getragen,
Die Welle wird Erz, eh' die Liebe besteht,
Drum klinget mein Klagen.

Doch endlich da ist auch die Klage verraucht,
In ewige Leere;
Die Blume, die Seele zerbricht, verhaucht,
Vergessen im Meere.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with: Carmen Sylva, Sappho, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1880, page 7.

Text Authorship:

by Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Luise zu Wied, Prinzessin (1843 - 1916), as Carmen Sylva, no title, appears in Sappho, in 1. Erster Gesang [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 Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Die Blume verblühet auf fliessender Fluth", op. 6 no. 1 (1883/84), published 1884 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Sappho's Gesänge aus Carmen Sylva's Dichtung, no. 1, Braunschweig, H. Litolff [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La flor es marceix al corrent de les aigües", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-12-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 84

The flower fades on the flowing...

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The flower fades on the flowing floodwaters
Torn from its tendril,
She is gone from the rocky cliffs, from the glow of the sun --
Who shall miss her?

Youth flies away with the passing of time,
Happiness with the wind,
They waft and wander and flee so far --
Who lives who might bind them?

The songs die away, love passes,
Borne by fate,
The waves would turn to bronze before love would last,
Hence my lamentations ring out.

But finally lamenting has also wafted away like smoke
Into eternal emptiness;
The flower, the soul breaks, breathes its last,
Forgotten in the sea.

About the headline (FAQ)

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 Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Luise zu Wied, Prinzessin (1843 - 1916), as Carmen Sylva, no title, appears in Sappho, in 1. Erster Gesang
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-12-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 102