by
Mary Alexander (1806 - 1859)
What means the lonely tear?
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
What means the lonely tear?
Which dims my saddened gaze?
A remnant, ‘tis the last,
Of early, bygone days.
‘Tis one of many sisters,
Who long ago were shed,
O’er former joys and sorrows,
In wind and darkness fled.
Like vapoury clouds dissolving,
Those azure stars are gone,
Which one each joy and sorrows,
Once on my eyelids shone.
And even my love has melted
Away in empty air,
Then go, thou lonely teardrop,
Go thou and and join it there.
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Lau Kanen
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2017-06-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 81
Wat zegt die enk’le traan
Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the English
Wat zegt die enk’le traan,
Die ’t zien belemmert mij?
Het is een overblijfsel
Van dagen lang voorbij.
’t Is één van vele zusjes
Waardoor ‘k toen werd verblind,
Van oude pijn en vreugde;
‘t Verdween in nacht en wind.
Als mist is ook vervlogen
Die blauwe sterrenpracht,
Die zoveel pijn en vreugde
Mij in de ogen bracht.
En ook mijn liefde zelf, ja,
Smolt weg in lege lucht,
Dus ga, jij eenzaam traantje,
Neem jij ook maar de vlucht.
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Text Authorship:
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This text was added to the website: 2017-06-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 80