How do I lament it forth

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by Johann Chrysostomos Senn (1795 - 1857)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wie klag' ich's aus

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE

»Wie klag' ich's aus
Das Sterbegefühl,
Das auflösend
Durch die Glieder rinnt?

Wie sing' ich's aus
Das Werdegefühl,
Das erlösend
Dich, o Geist, anweht?«

[Es klagt', es]¹ sang
Vernichtungsbang,
Verklärungsfroh,
Bis das Leben floh.

Das [ist]² des Schwanen Gesang!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Senn. Innsbruck, in der Wagner'schen Buchhandlung. 1838, page 15

Note: Schubert received Senn's poem in handwritten form. Senn issued it later in the book mentioned above, with the footnote In Musik gesetzt von Fr. Schubert.

¹ Schubert: "Er klagt', er"
² Schubert: "bedeutet"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Chrysostomos Senn (1795 - 1857), "Schwanenlied" [author's text checked 2 times 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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Schwanengesang", op. 23 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, D 744 (1822?), published 1823 [ voice, piano ], Sauer & Leidesdorf, VN 367, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Aleksi Reunanen) , "Joutsenlaulu", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant du cygne", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 41

How do I lament it forth

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

"How do I lament it forth,
This feeling of dying,
Which disintegratingly
Runs through my limbs?

How do I sing it forth,
This feeling of becoming,
Which redeemingly
Wafts, oh spirit, toward you?"

It lamented, it sang
Fearful of annihilation,
Glad of transfiguration,
Until life fled.

That [is]¹ the swan’s singing!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translations of title(s):
"Schwanengesang" = "The singing of the swan"
"Schwanenlied" = "The song of the swan"

¹ Schubert: "is the meaning of"

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 Johann Chrysostomos Senn (1795 - 1857), "Schwanenlied"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-05-02
Line count: 13
Word count: 52