O Sterne, [goldne]1 Sterne!
Wohl scheint ihr [wunderlicht]2;
Doch wie die Äugelein scheinen
Von der Herzigen, von der Meinen,
Wenn sie [sagt]3: "Ich hab' dich so gerne!"
So [scheint]4 ihr nicht.

O Sonne, [goldne]1 Sonne!
Wohl hast du ein scharf Gesicht;
Du miß'st mit [einem]5 Strahle
So viel tausend [Gebirg]6 und Tale.
Doch die Wonne, o meine Wonne --
Die miß'st du nicht.

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Abt, Zemlinsky: "goldene"
² Zemlinsky: "so wunderlicht"
³ Abt: "spricht"
⁴ Abt, Zemlinsky: "scheinet"
⁵ Abt: "deinem"
⁶ Abt, Zemlinsky: "Gebirge"

Text Authorship:

• by (Karl) Ludwig Pfau (1821 - 1894), no title, appears in Gedichte [1847], in 3. Lieder und Stimmen, in Burschenlieder, no. 5 [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Unermesslich", op. 149 (4 Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor)) no. 2, published 1858 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Jan Levolslav (Johann Leopold) Bella (1843 - 1936), "Unermesslich", op. 12 (Drei Lieder) no. 2, published 1882 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eugen Haile (1873 - 1933), "O Sterne, goldne Sterne!", copyright © 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Ein Cyklus von acht Liedern für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Kleinmichel (1846 - 1901), "O Sterne, goldne Sterne", op. 34 no. 3, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Burschenlieder, no. 3, Kassel, Voigt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871 - 1942), "O Sterne, goldene Sterne", op. 5 (Acht Lieder), Heft 1 no. 4 (1897?), copyright © 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig & Kopenhagen: Wilhelm Hansen, Musik-Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "O stars, golden stars", copyright ©

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 69

 O stars, golden stars!
 so wondrously bright do you shine;
 but as the eyes gleam
 of the sweetheart who is mine
 when she says, "I like you so well" -
 you do not shine like that.
 
 O sun, golden sun!
 You certainly have a keen face.
 With one beam you measure
 so many thousands of mountains and valleys.
 But the bliss, o my bliss -
 that you cannot measure.