[Wann]1 der silberne Mond durch die Gesträuche [blinkt]2,
Und sein schlummerndes Licht über den Rasen [streut]3,
  Und die Nachtigall flötet,
    Wandl' ich traurig von Busch zu Busch.

Selig preis' ich dich dann, flötende Nachtigall,
Weil dein Weibchen mit dir wohnet in Einem Nest,
  Ihrem singenden Gatten
    Tausend trauliche Küsse giebt.

[Überhüllet]4 von Laub, girret ein Taubenpaar
Sein Entzücken mir vor; aber ich wende mich,
  Suche [dunklere Schatten]5,
    Und die einsame Thräne rinnt.

Wann, o lächelndes Bild, welches wie Morgenroth
Durch die Seele mir stralt, find' ich auf Erden dich?
  Und die einsame Thräne
    Bebt mir heisser die Wang' herab.

J. Brahms sets stanzas 1, 3-4
F. Hensel sets stanzas 1-3

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Confirmed with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Besorgt durch seine Freunde Friederich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg und Johann Heinrich Voß. Hamburg, bei Carl Ernst Bohn. 1783, page 167; with Poetische Blumenlese Auf das Jahr 1775. Göttingen und Gotha bey Johann Christian Dieterich, pages 210-211; and with Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty's Sämtliche Werke kritisch und chronologisch herausgegeben von Wilhelm Michael, Erster Band, Weimar, Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, 1914, page 159.

¹ Hölty, first edition: "Wenn"
² Hölty, first edition: "blickt"
³ Hölty, first edition: "geußt"
⁴ Hölty's manuscript: "Überschattet"
⁵ Hölty's manuscript: "dunkle Gesträuche"

Text Authorship:

• by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), "Die Mainacht", written 1774, first published 1775 [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 Max Joseph Beer (1851 - 1908), "Die Mainacht", op. 1 (Zwei Lieder und Gesänge mit Pianoforte) no. a, published 1874, Wien: V. Kratochwill; Leipzig: R. Forberg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Die Mainacht", op. 43 (Vier Gesänge) no. 2, published 1869, stanzas 1,3-4 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann  [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Die Mainacht", op. posth. 9 (Sechs Lieder) no. 6, published 1850, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julius Janssen , "Die Mainacht", published 1879 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, Kassel, Voigt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Rintel (1818 - 1899), "Die Mainacht ", published 1858 [ vocal quartet for female voices ], from Drei Lieder für vier Frauenstimmen, no. 3, Berlin, Bahn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Victor Franz Saar (1868 - 1937), "Mainacht", op. 8 (Drei Gesänge für 4 Solostimmen (S., A., T. und B.) mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ SATB quartet a cappella ], Leipzig, Robitschek [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Schnell (? - 1884), "Wann der silberne Mond", op. 6 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Raabe & Plothow [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Die Mainacht", D 194 (1815), published 1894 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Thekla Schulz , "Die Mainacht", published 1879 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Bremen, Praeger & Meier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Die Mainacht", op. 1 (Sieben Lieder für eine mittlere Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 7, published 1873 [ medium voice and piano ], Wien, Gotthard [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Jaroslav Kalina) , "Májová noc"
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De meinacht", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2019
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) (Tsippora Samberg) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HEB Hebrew (עברית) [singable] (Hamutal Atariah) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Notte di maggio", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La notte di maggio", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Alvaro De la Cruz) , "La noche de mayo", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 99

When the silver moon twinkles through the bushes,
And dusts the grass with its sleepy light,
And the nightingale pipes like a flute,
I wander mournfully from bush to bush.

I call you blessed then, fluting nightingale, 
For your beloved lives with you in one nest,
And gives her singing spouse
A thousand loving kisses.

Surrounded with leaves, a pair of doves coos
Their delight to me, but I turn away,
Seeking darker shadows,
And a solitary tear flows.

O smiling image that, like the red light of morning,
Shines through my soul, when will I find you on earth?
And the solitary tear
Trembles more warmly on my cheek.