The Christmas tree | All around the green Christmas tree

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Der Weihnachtsbaum

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Chosen for Diff

Wohl um den grünen Weihnachtsbaum
Vier Kinder jubeln [in selgem]¹ Traum.

Die Kerzen flimmern im hellen Schein,
Noch heller der Kinder Äugelein.

Die Mutter so glücklich, so glücklich ist,
Und alle Sorgen ihr Herz vergißt.

Da, plötzlich, sieh! ein Kerzlein hell,
Jäh flackert's -- und erlischt zur Stell.

Die Mutter erschrickt, wird todtenbleich:
Das deutet auf eines Kindes Leich! --

Und über's Jahr beim Weihnachtsbaum
Drei Kinder jubeln [in selgem]¹Traum.

Manch Thränlein der Mutter im Auge blinkt:
Das jüngste Kind ihr vom Himmel winkt.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• B. Randhartinger

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 345.

¹ Randhartinger: "im sel'gen"

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Der Weihnachtsbaum", appears in Liederbuch, in 6. Romanzen, no. 371 [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 Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Der Weihnachtsbaum" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The Christmas tree", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2023-01-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 85

The Christmas tree

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Chosen for Diff

All around the green Christmas tree
Four children rejoice in a blessed dream.

The candles flicker in a bright glow,
The children's eyes [shimmer] even more brightly.

The mother is so happy, so happy,
And her heart forgets all anxieties.

There, suddenly, see! A little candle bright,
It gutters abruptly -- and goes out on the spot.

The mother is dismayed, grows deathly pale:
That portends the corpse of a child! --

And a year hence by the Christmas tree,
Three children rejoice in a blessed dream.

Many a tear gleams in the mother's eye:
Her youngest child beckons to her from Heaven.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Der Weihnachtsbaum", appears in Liederbuch, in 6. Romanzen, no. 371
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 101