Ach, Augen gibt’s, die er könnt' sehn

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by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Oh, there are eyes that he can see

Language: English

Our translations: GER

Oh, there are eyes that he can see,
      And hands to make his hands rejoice,
But to my lover I must be
      Only a voice.

Oh, there are breasts to bear his head,
      And lips whereon his lips can lie,
But I must be till I am dead
      Only a cry.

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Text Authorship:

by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "A cry", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915 [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 Wintter Haynes Watts (1884 - 1962), "Only a cry", published 1923 [ medium voice and piano ], from Two Songs by Sara Teasdale [sung text not yet checked]

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

Ach, Augen gibt’s, die er könnt' sehn

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Ach, Augen gibt’s, die er könnt' sehn
und Hände, seine zu erfreun,
doch darf ich meinem Liebsten nichts
als Stimme sein.
 
Ach, Brüste gibt’s, drauf er könnt ruhn,
und Lippen, wo sein Mund könnt sein,
doch mir verbleibt, bis tot ich bin,
nur Weinen, Schrei’n.

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Translations of titles
"A cry" = "Ein Weinen"
"Only a cry" = "Nur Weinen"

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2021 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:

a text in English by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "A cry", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2021-03-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 45