Cena | The days crept greyly, without radiance

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by Alfred Mombert (1872 - 1942)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Cena

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Grau krochen Tage, ohne Glanz,
lange Tage, viele Tage.
Wir waren beide krank und grau,
die wir uns trafen in glanzlosen Tagen.
Da frug sie wohl ängstlich,
das scheue Kind:
"Sage - sage!
Wieweit [sic] ist's bis zur Sonne?"

Und einmal neigte ich über sie,
küßte lächelnd ihre Stirn,
sprach aus Träumen:
"Du bist ja selber die Sonne" ...

Wild umschlang sie mich, stolz und glühend:
"So will ich dir leuchten
wie die Sonne!"

Confirmed with Alfred Mombert, Tag und Nacht, Zweite, veränderte Auflage, Minden i. W.: J.C.C. Bruns, 1902, page 40

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Mombert (1872 - 1942), "Cena", appears in Tag und Nacht: Gedichte, first published 1894 [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 Elsa Gregory (fl. 1900-20), "Cena" [voice and piano], from Fünf Gesänge, no. 5. [ sung text not verified ]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , title 1: "Cena", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website: 2013-06-06
Line count: 15
Word count: 72

Cena

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The days crept greyly, without radiance,
long days, many days,
We were both sick and grey,
we who met each other in lustreless days.
Then she asked anxiously,
the shy child:
"Tell - tell!
How far is it to the sun?"

And once I bent over her,
smilingly kissed her brow,
spoke out of dreams:
"But you yourself are the sun" . . .

Wildly she embraced me, proud and glowing:
"Then I shall shine for you
like the sun!”

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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 Alfred Mombert (1872 - 1942), "Cena", appears in Tag und Nacht: Gedichte, first published 1894
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-02-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 79