Happiness is severe with us and aloof | Happiness is severe with us and aloof

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Stefan George (1868 - 1933)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Streng ist uns das glück und spröde ·

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE ITA

Streng ist uns das glück und spröde ·
Was vermocht ein kurzer kuss?
Eines regentropfens guss
Auf gesengter bleicher öde
Die ihn ungenossen schlingt ·
Neue labung missen muss
Und vor neuen gluten springt.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Stefan George, Die Bücher der Hirten- und Preisgedichte, der Sagen und Sänge und der hängenden Gärten. Gesamt-Ausgabe der Werke, Band 3, Berlin, 1930, page 107.

Text Authorship:

by Stefan George (1868 - 1933), no title, appears in Das Buch der hängenden Gärten [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 Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), "Streng ist uns das glück und spröde", op. 15 no. 9 (1908-9), from Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Austera ens és la felicitat i fràgil", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Happiness is severe with us and aloof", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Dura è per noi la felicità, e fragile", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 7
Word count: 34

Happiness is severe with us and aloof

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Happiness is severe with us and aloof;
What can a short kiss achieve?
[It is] the shower of a single raindrop
Upon a singed, pale, desolate expanse,
Which devours it untasted,
Which must forego new refreshing
And bursts with new fires.

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 Stefan George (1868 - 1933), no title, appears in Das Buch der hängenden Gärten
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-04-12
Line count: 7
Word count: 41