by Heinrich Leuthold (1827 - 1879)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Der Waldsee
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
Wie bist du schön, du tiefer, blauer See!
Es zagt der laue West, dich anzuhauchen,
Und nur der Wasserlilie reiner Schnee
Wagt aus dem keuschen Busen dir zu tauchen.

Hier wirft kein Fischer seine Angelschnur,
Kein Kahn wird je durch deine Fluten gleiten!
Gleich einer Dithyrambe der Natur
Rauscht nur der Wald durch diese Einsamkeiten!

Wildrosen streun dir Weihrauch, ihr Arom
Die schlanken Tannen, die dich rings umragen,
Und die, wie Säulen einen mächt'gen Dom,
Ob sich des Himmels blau' Gewölbe tragen.

Einst kannt ich eine Seele, ernst, voll Ruh,
Die sich der Welt verschloß mit sieben Siegeln,
Die, rein und tief, geschaffen schien wie du,
Nur um den Himmel in sich abzuspiegeln.

Confirmed with Heinrich Leuthold, Gedichte, Frauenfeld, Druck und Verlag von Huber & Co., 1914, pages 22-23.


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):

Set in a modified version by Wilhelm Reinhard Berger, Robert Kahn, Richard Poebing, Richard Stöhr.

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

  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The forest lake", copyright ©


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Jakob Kellner

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 113

The forest lake
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
 How fair you are, you deep blue lake! 
 The mild west wind hesitates to breathe on you,
 and only the pure snow of the water-lily
 dares emerge from your chaste bosom.

 Here no fisherman casts his fishnets,
 no boat will ever glide through your waters!
 Like a dithyramb of nature,
 only the wood rustles in these lonely parts!

 Wild roses spread for you their incense and
 the slender firs their scent; they rear up about you
 and like the pillars of a mighty cathedral
 support the blue vault of the skies.

 Once I knew a soul, serious and tranquil,
 who locked herself away from the world with seven seals;
 who, pure and profound, seemed to have been created, like you,
 only to reflect Heaven in herself.

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: 2003-10-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 127