Cuckoo and nightingale | The cuckoo fell from the withered tree

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by Gotthard Oswald Marbach (1810 - 1890)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Guckuck und Nachtigall

Language: German (Deutsch) after the German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Der Guckuck fiel vom dürren Baum,
Da ist er todt geblieben;
Von wem wird nun den Sommer lang
Uns Zeit und Weil vertrieben?
 
Ei das soll thun Frau Nachtigall,
Die sitzt auf grünen Zweigen;
Und singt und springt, ist allzeit froh,
Wenn andre Vögel schweigen.
 
Zum Guckguck mag der Guckguck gehn,
Wir werden uns nicht grämen;
Die Nachtigall, die Nachtigall,
Die soll uns Niemand nehmen!

Confirmed with Liebesgeschichten von Oswald Marbach, Leipzig: Otto Wigand, 1846, page 182

Text Authorship:

by Gotthard Oswald Marbach (1810 - 1890), "Guckuck und Nachtigall", appears in Liebesgeschichten, in Alte Lieder -- neue Klänge [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Alexander Fesca (1820 - 1849), "Guckuck und Nachtigall", op. 51 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1846 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Braunschweig, Meyer [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Cuckoo and nightingale", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-03-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 65

Cuckoo and nightingale

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The cuckoo fell from the withered tree,
There he remained dead;
And who shall now the summer long
Help us pass the time and keep us from boredom?
 
Ah, that shall be done by Mistress Nightingale,
She sits upon green branches;
And sings and leaps, is always cheery
When other birds fall silent.
 
May the cuckoo be destroyed,
We shall not sorrow about that;
The nightingale, the nightingale,
Shall be taken from us by no one!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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 Gotthard Oswald Marbach (1810 - 1890), "Guckuck und Nachtigall", appears in Liebesgeschichten, in Alte Lieder -- neue Klänge [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-03-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 76