To her eyes | You wondrous enigma

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by Heinrich Wenzel

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

An ihr Auge

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

   Du wunderbares Räthsel,
Sprich, was bedeutest Du?
Du deckest selbst geöffnet
Ein süß Geheimniß zu.
 
   Du kühle Meerestiefe,
O sprich, was in Dir ruht?
Du goldne Flammenquelle,
Woher die ew'ge Gluth?
 
   In Dir erglänzt die Sonne,
Und doch ist's in Dir Nacht!
Die Sterne [glänzen]¹ helle
Zugleich mit Mondespracht!
 
   Von Liebe und von Sehnsucht
Sprichst Du wohl allzumal;
Das Licht ist Deine Rede,
Und jedes Wort ein Strahl!
 
   [In diesen]² süßen Worten
Lies't wohl kein Mensch sich satt,
[Wenn]³ auch von Allen Keiner
Dich ganz verstanden hat.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Kessler

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with: Gedichte von Heinrich Wenzel, Glogau: Druck und Verlag von C. Flemming, 1836, pages 25-26

Note for stanza 2, line 4, word 2: in Kessler's score, the word "du" appears instead of "die", but this is probably a misprint.

¹ Kessler: "leuchten"
² Kessler: "An solchen"
³ Kessler: "Ob"

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Wenzel , "An ihr Auge", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch. Liebesgedichte, in 1. Lieder und Epigramme, no. 50 [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 Joseph Christoph Kessler (1800 - 1872), "An ihr Auge", op. 53 (Zwei Lieder) no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by W. E. Scholtz , "An ihr Auge", op. 19a (Sechs Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published <<1895 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2016-07-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 91

To her eyes

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

   You wondrous enigma,
Speak, what do you mean?
Even when open you conceal
A sweet secret.
 
   You cool depth of the ocean,
Oh tell me, what rests within you?
You golden well-spring of flames,
Whence comes your eternal glow?
 
   Within you the sun rises in radiance,
And yet it is night within you!
The stars shine brightly
Together with the splendour of moonlight!
 
   Of love and of longing
You speak indeed at the same time;
Light is your speech,
And every word is a beam!
 
   In these sweet words,
Likely no one can read his fill,
Even though no one among all people
Has completely understood you.

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 Heinrich Wenzel , "An ihr Auge", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch. Liebesgedichte, in 1. Lieder und Epigramme, no. 50
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-07-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 108