Dreams (Wesendonck, set by Richard Wagner) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

Some of the following material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. Printing copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator is also illegal.

You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

For more information, contact us at:

Before writing, please read the instructions below the translations (under Authorship). Always include the names of the translators in your email if you wish to reprint something!

by (Agnes) Mathilde Wesendonck, née Luckemeyer (1828 - 1902)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Träume

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT ENG FRE ITA NOR NYN RUS

Sag, welch wunderbare Träume
Halten meinen Sinn umfangen,
Daß sie nicht wie leere Schäume
Sind in ödes Nichts vergangen?

Träume, die in jeder Stunde,
Jedem Tage schöner blühn,
Und mit ihrer Himmelskunde
Selig durchs Gemüte ziehn!

Träume, die wie hehre Strahlen
In die Seele sich versenken,
Dort ein ewig Bild zu malen:
Allvergessen, Eingedenken!

Träume, wie wenn Frühlingssonne
Aus dem Schnee die Blüten küßt,
Daß zu nie geahnter Wonne
Sie der neue Tag begrüßt,

Daß sie wachsen, daß sie blühen,
Träumend spenden ihren Duft,
Sanft an deiner Brust verglühen,
Und dann sinken in die Gruft.

Authorship

by (Agnes) Mathilde Wesendonck, née Luckemeyer (1828 - 1902) [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 Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883), "Träume", WWV 91 no. 5 (1857), published 1862 [female voice and piano or orchestra], from Wesendonck-Lieder, no. 5, Mainz, Schott, also set in French (Français) [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Victor Wilder (1835 - 1892) CAT ENG ITA ITA NOR NYN RUS ; composed by Richard Wagner.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Somnis", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Dreams", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Rêves", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sogni", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Arrigo Enrico Boito) , "Sogni"
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Drømmer", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt) , "Draumar", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Danilova) , "Грёзы", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:01:55
Line count: 20
Word count: 95

Dreams

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Tell me, what kind of wondrous dreams
are embracing my senses,
that have not, like sea-foam,
vanished into desolate Nothingness?

Dreams, that with each passing hour,
each passing day, bloom fairer,
and with their heavenly tidings
roam blissfully through my heart! 

Dreams which, like holy rays of light
sink into the soul,
there to paint an eternal image:
forgiving all, thinking of only One.

Dreams which, when the Spring sun
kisses the blossoms from the snow,
so that into unsuspected bliss
they greet the new day,

so that they grow, so that they bloom,
and dreaming, bestow their fragrance,
these dreams gently glow and fade on your breast,
and then sink into the grave.

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 -- https://www.lieder.net/
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.

Based on

a text in German (Deutsch) by (Agnes) Mathilde Wesendonck, née Luckemeyer (1828 - 1902)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:01:55
Line count: 20
Word count: 114