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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Translation © by Antonio Zencovich
Wie kommt's, daß du so traurig bist
Language: German (Deutsch)
Wie kommt's, daß du so traurig bist, Da alles froh erscheint? Man sieht dir's an den Augen an, Gewiß du hast geweint. "Und hab' ich einsam auch geweint, So ist's mein [eigner]1 Schmerz, Und Thränen fließen gar so süß, Erleichtern mir das Herz." Die frohen Freunde laden dich, O komm an unsre Brust! Und was du auch verloren hast, [Vertraue]2 den Verlust. "Ihr lärmt und rauscht und ahnet nicht, Was mich den Armen quält. Ach nein, verloren hab' ich's nicht, So sehr es mir auch fehlt." So raffe dich denn eilig auf, Du bist ein junges Blut. In deinen Jahren hat man Kraft Und zum Erwerben Muth. "Ach nein, erwerben kann ich's nicht, Es steht mir gar zu fern. Es weilt so hoch, es blinkt so schön, Wie droben jener Stern." Die Sterne, die begehrt man nicht, Man freut sich ihrer Pracht, Und mit Entzücken blickt man auf In jeder heitern Nacht. "Und mit Entzücken blick' ich auf, So manchen lieben Tag; Verweinen laßt die Nächte mich, So lang' ich weinen mag."
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 96-97, and with Taschenbuch auf das Jahr 1804, Herausgegeben von Wieland und Goethe, Tübingen, in der Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, pages 115-116.
1 Schubert (in the autograph): "eigen"2 Schubert (Friedlaender edition): "vertraure"
Authorship:
- by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Trost in Thränen", written 1801-02, first published 1804 [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 (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Trost in Tränen", op. 33 (Zwölf Gesänge) no. 3, published 1841 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georg Friedrich Alexander, Graf von Blankensee (d. 1867), "Trost in Tränen" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Trost in Tränen", op. 48 (Sieben Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 5 (1858), published 1868 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Trost in Tränen", op. 14 (1872) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Adrian Götzloff (d. 1836), "Trost in Tränen", c1809 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765 - 1814), "Trost in Tränen", op. 38 (c1810) [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alexis Holländer (1840 - 1924), "Wie kommt's, dass du so traurig bist", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder im Volkston, für mittlere Stimme ) no. 1, published 1864 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Christoph Kienlen (1783 - 1829), "Trost in Tränen", published 1812 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Theodor Fürchtegott Kirchner (1823 - 1903), "Trost in Tränen", op. 69 (Vier Gedichte von Goethe) no. 2, published 1882 [ men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by C. Klage , "Trost in Thränen", op. 25, published 1831 [ duet for soprano and bass with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Immanuel Friedrich Knapp (1784 - 1817), "Trost in Tränen", published 1809, from Sechs Lieder von Goethe und Matthison, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Trost in Tränen", op. 80, Heft 2 no. 2 (1836) [ vocal trio ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Trost in Thränen", op. 71 no. 5, published 1878 [ medium voice and piano ], from Fünf Goethe-Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme mit Pianoforte, no. 5, Darmstadt, Thies [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ignaz von Mosel (1772 - 1844), "Trost in Tränen", published 1823 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emil Naumann (1827 - 1888), "Trost in Thränen", op. 31 no. 5, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], from Nachklänge. Sechs Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 5, Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778 - 1858), "Trost in Tränen", op. 10 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 2 (1808-9), published 1808-9 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Trost in Tränen" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Trost in Tränen", published 1805-6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Reichel (1820 - 1896), "Trost in Thränen", op. 67 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Bern, Methfessel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Trost in Tränen", op. 48 (Deutsche Lieder von W. v. Göthe für eine Sopran- oder Tenorstimme ) no. 1, published [1827?] [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin: Bei Fr. Laue [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilhelm Friedrich Riem (1779 - 1837), "Wechselgesang", op. 9 no. 1, published [c1809] [ voice and piano ], from Vier Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte von W. F. Riem, no. 1, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel ; the song begins with stanza 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Trost in Tränen", D 120 (1814), published 1835 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Trost in Tränen" [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gesänge mit Begleitung des Piano Forte, 9te Sammlung, no. 3, Augsburg: In der Gombart'schen Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilhelm Tappert (1830 - 1907), "Trost in Thränen", op. 16 (Vier Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Paez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Tiehsen (1817 - 1849), "Trost in Thränen", op. 6 no. 5, published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Gedichte von Göthe, Heine, Uhland, Burns und W. Müller, no. 5, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
- by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Trost in Tränen", op. 53 (Gedichte von Goethe: I) no. 5 (1815?) [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Heinrich von Weyrauch (1788 - 1865), "Trost in Tränen" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Trost in Tränen", 1803 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852) ; composed by Nikolay Ivanovich Bakhmetyev, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky, Ivan Ivanovich Ignatiev, Nikolai Alexeyevich Titov, Nikolai Sergeyevich Titov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Troost in tranen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Comfort in tears", copyright ©
- ENG English (Edgar Alfred Bowring) , "Comfort in tears", appears in The Poems of Goethe, first published 1853
- FRE French (Français) (Gérard Labrunie) , "Consolation dans les larmes"
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 172
Perché sei così triste
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the German (Deutsch)
Perché sei così triste mentre tutti si mostrano allegri? Dai tuoi occhi si vede che di sicuro hai pianto. “È vero, sono rimasto a piangere da solo, ma è stato per un dolore tutto mio. e le lacrime scorrevano così dolci da alleggerirmi il cuore.” Gli amici lieti t’invitano: su, vieni ai nostri cuori e, qualunque cosa abbia perduto, confidati con noi. “Voi schiamazzate e fate confusione senza immaginare cosa tormenti questo infelice: ahimé, nulla ho perduto sebbene qualcosa mi manchi assai.” Allora alzati in fretta: il tuo sangue è giovane. Alla tua età non manca la forza e il coraggio di ottenere ciò che si desidera. “Ahimè, io non posso raggiungerlo: il bene cui aspiro è troppo lontano da me. Sta così in alto, splende così gentile come quella stella lassù.” Le stelle non si possono bramare: ci si rallegra del loro splendore e le si osserva con rapimento quando la notte è serena. “Io invece le contemplo rapito in certi giorni lieti. Lasciate che passi le notti in lacrime finché sarò in grado di piangere.”
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Trost in Tränen" = "La consolazione nelle lacrime"Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2015 by Antonio Zencovich, (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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Trost in Thränen", written 1801-02, first published 1804
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-20
Line count: 32
Word count: 177