Der Sommer [geht]1 zu Ende, 
  Ach Liebchen, gehst auch du 
  Und läßt mich ohne Ruh'
Bei dieser Sonnenwende?

Wenn alle Vöglein fliehen
  Und keines bleiben will,
  Dann wird's im Walde still,
Bis sie zurücke ziehen;

Doch wen verläßt die Liebe,
  Dem ist's im Herzen gar,
  Als ob viel tausend Jahr'
Der eine Winter bliebe.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Wilhelm Osterwald, Dritte umgearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage, Leipzig, Verlag von F. G. C. Leuckart (Constantin Sander), 1873, p. 16.

¹ Franz: "ist"

Text Authorship:

• by (Karl) Wilhelm Osterwald (1820 - 1887), "Sonnenwende", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch: Lieder, no. 16 [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 Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Sonnenwende", op. 37 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 5 (1866?), published 1866 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Huber (1852 - 1921), "Sommerwende", op. 29 no. 3, published 1878 [ men's chorus ], from Sechs Lieder im Volkston für Männerchor, no. 3, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (E. S. Willcox) , "Summer solstice"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-12-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 55

The summer days are over;
Ah! dearest, must thou go;
While the Sun so low,
Wilt thou forsake thy lover?
 
When little birds are yearning
Some milder clime to prove,
Then hushed are hill and grove,
Till home they come returning.
 
But when Love finds a reason,
Forth with the birds to fly
Then a thousand years go by
In that one Winter season.