Late summer | If we are to be parted

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by Alfred von Meißner (1822 - 1885)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Sollen wir geschieden sein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Sollen wir geschieden sein,
Sei es ganz!  Nichts mahne mehr 
Mich an alte Lust und Pein,  --  
Meine Nacht sei sternenleer!  

Miss' ich deines Aug's Azur, 
Sei es Nacht um mich und still; 
Fort das Mondlicht, das mir nur 
Irre Trümmer zeigen will! 

Lieber Gift, das macht doch frei, 
Ich empfang's mit mind'rem Groll 
Als des Mitleids Arzenei, 
Die mich langsam heilen soll.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Gesammelte Schriften von Alfred Meißner, achzehnter Band, Dichtungen, Leipzig: Fr. Wilh. Grunow, 1872.

Text Authorship:

by Alfred von Meißner (1822 - 1885), no title, appears in Gedichte, in Flocken, in An ..., no. 11 [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 Jean Louis Nicodé (1853 - 1919), "Spätsommer", op. 30 no. 6, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Dem Andenken an Amarantha. Ein Liedercyklus für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 6, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Late summer", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2019-11-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 62

Late summer

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

If we are to be parted,
Let it be completely! May nothing more
Remind me of old joy and anguish, --
May my night be starless!

If I am to miss the azure of your eyes,
Let it be night around me and [let it be] silent;
Away with the moonlight that only
Wishes to show me bewildering ruins!

Rather [give me] poison, that at least makes one free,
I would receive it with lesser rancour
Than the medicine of pity
That is to heal me slowly.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 by Sharon Krebs, (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. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Alfred von Meißner (1822 - 1885), no title, appears in Gedichte, in Flocken, in An ..., no. 11
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-08-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 86