Roses that I plucked in the midnight garden

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by Hans Schmidt (1854 - 1923)

Translation © by Peter Low

Rosen brach ich nachts mir am dunklen...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE ITA SPA

Rosen brach ich nachts mir am dunklen Hage;
Süßer hauchten Duft sie als je am Tage;
Doch verstreuten reich die bewegten Äste
Tau, der mich näßte.

Auch der Küsse Duft mich wie nie berückte,
Die ich nachts vom Strauch deiner Lippen pflückte:
Doch auch dir, bewegt im Gemüt gleich jenen,
Tauten die Tränen.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Hans Schmidt (1854 - 1923), "Gereimte sapphische Ode", appears in Gedichte und Übersetzungen, in In antiker Form, Offenbach, no date [author's text not yet checked 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Sapphische Ode", op. 94 (Fünf Lieder für 1 tiefe Stimme -- für 1 hohe Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4 (1884), published 1884 [ low voice or high voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Sapphische ode", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Peter Low) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2019
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Ode saffica", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 53

Roses that I plucked in the midnight...

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Roses that I plucked in the midnight garden
smelt more sweet than in any daylight hour;
but there fell down from the moving branches
dew, as a gentle shower.

So the kiss I plucked in the darkness boldly
out-perfumed the sweetest blooms I knew.
And so moved were you that I felt on my shoulder
teardrops like a gentle dew.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Sapphische Ode" = "Ode in Sapphic metre"

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 by Peter Low, (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 Hans Schmidt (1854 - 1923), "Gereimte sapphische Ode", appears in Gedichte und Übersetzungen, in In antiker Form, Offenbach, no date
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-11-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 60