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Der trübe Winter ist vorbei, Die [Schwalben]1 wiederkehren; Nun regt sich [alles wieder neu]2; Die Quellen sich vermehren. Laub [allgemach]3 nun schleicht an Tag, Die Blümlein nun sich melden; Wie Schlänglein krumm gehn lächelnd um Die Bächlein kühl in Wälden. Wo man nur schaut, fast alle Welt Zur Freuden sich tut rüsten; Zum Scherzen alles ist gestellt, Schwebt alles fast in Lüsten. Nur ich allein, ich leide Pein, Ohn' Ende werd ich leiden: Seit du von mir und ich von dir, O Liebste, mußte scheiden.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Zilcher: "Kranich"
2 Zilcher: "der Vögel Schrei"
3 Zilcher: "mit gemach"
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591 - 1635) [author's text not yet checked 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 Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Altdeutsches Frühlingslied", op. posth. 86 (Sechs Gesänge für eine Singstimme und Klavier) no. 6 (1847) [ voice and piano ]
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time] - by Hermann Karl Josef Zilcher (1881 - 1948), "Frühlingsstrophe", op. 109 no. 1 [ 2 voices, 2 harmonicas ], from Fünf Duette für zwei Singstimmen und zwei Mundharmonikas in C, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Oud Duits lentelied", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Old German Song of Springtime", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 88
The dismal winter is over, Swallows are returning; Now everything renews itself And springs proliferate. Little by little, leaves slip into the day, Little flowers now appear; Like a twisting little snake, The chilly stream goes laughing through the woods. Wherever one looks, almost all the world Is arming itself with joy; Everything is jovial, And almost everything is swept up in pleasures. Only I alone, I suffer pain; Without end will I suffer Since you from I and I from you, O beloved, had to part.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, (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.
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591 - 1635)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87