Melancholy | The grey sky full of clouds

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by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wehmuth

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Der graue Wolkenhimmel
  Schaut her, wie trüb gesinnt,
  Fast wie sonst Betteshimmel
  Auf mich als krankes Kind.
 
Dann bath ich:  "Mutter höre,
  Zieh' die Gardinen vor!"
  Sorgsam, daß nichts mich störe,
  Schloß sie das seid'ne Thor.
 
Dann konnt' ich ruhig schlafen,
  Die Krankheit fühlt' ich kaum,
  Von Wald und frommen Schafen
  War grün und weiß mein Traum.
 
Mutter, aus ew'gen Sphären
  Siehst du, was ich verlor.
  Zieh' diesen kranken Zähren
  Die letzte Decke vor!

Confirmed with Gedichte von Fridr. Baron de la Motte-Fouqué, Zweyter Theil, Neueste Auflage, Wien: Bey B. Ph. Bauer, 1818, pages 21-22

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Wehmuth" [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 Borromäus von Militz (1781 - 1845), "Wehmuth", S. 16 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Melancholy", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 74

Melancholy

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The grey sky full of clouds
  Gazes down, how sad in spirit,
  Almost the way my canopy bed
  Once [gazed down] upon me as a sick child.
 
Then I asked:  "Mother, listen,
  Draw the curtains!"
  Carefully, so that nothing might disturb me,
  She closed the silken gate.
 
Then I could sleep peacefully,
  I hardly noticed my illness,
  Green and white were my dreams
  Of forests and docile sheep.
 
Mother, from the eternal spheres
  You see what I have lost.
  Across these sick tears
  Draw the last coverlet!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 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 Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Wehmuth"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 87