by (Agnes) Mathilde Wesendonck, née Luckemeyer (1828 - 1902)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Im Treibhaus
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE ITA NOR NYN RUS SPA TUR
Hochgewölbte Blätterkronen,
Baldachine von Smaragd,
Kinder ihr aus fernen Zonen,
Saget mir, warum ihr klagt?

Schweigend neiget ihr die Zweige,
Malet Zeichen in die Luft,
Und der Leiden stummer Zeuge
Steiget aufwärts, süßer Duft.

Weit in sehnendem Verlangen
Breitet ihr die Arme aus,
Und umschlinget wahnbefangen
Öder Leere nicht'gen Graus.

Wohl, ich weiß es, arme Pflanze;
Ein Geschicke teilen wir,
Ob umstrahlt von Licht und Glanze,
Unsre Heimat ist nicht hier!

Und wie froh die Sonne scheidet
Von des Tages leerem Schein,
Hüllet der, der wahrhaft leidet,
Sich in Schweigens Dunkel ein.

Stille wird's, ein säuselnd Weben
Füllet bang den dunklen Raum:
Schwere Tropfen seh ich schweben
An der Blätter grünem Saum.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Victor Wilder (1835 - 1892) ; composed by Richard Wagner.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Dins l'hivernacle", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "In the hothouse", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Dans la serre", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Nella serra", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Arrigo Enrico Boito) , "Nella serra"
  • NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "I drivhuset", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt) , "I drivhuset", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Danilova) , "В теплице", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Susana Martin Dudoignon) , "En el invernadero", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • TUR Turkish (Türkçe) (Lacin Modiri) , "Sera'da", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 112

In the hothouse
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
High-vaulted crowns of leaves,
Canopies of emerald,
You children of distant zones,
Tell me, why do you lament?

Silently you bend your branches,
Draw signs in the air,
And the mute witness to your anguish -
A sweet fragrance - rises.

In desirous longing, wide
You open your arms,
And embrace through insane predilection
The desolate, empty, horrible void.

I know well, poor plants,
A fate that we share,
Though we bathe in light and radiance,
Our homeland is not here!

And how gladly the sun departs
From the empty gleam of the day,
He veils himself, he who suffers truly,
In the darkness of silence.

It becomes quiet, a whispered stirring
Fills uneasily the dark room:
Heavy drops I see hovering
On the green edge of the leaves.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 127