To a Christmas rose II | A flower's germ sleeps in the winter soil

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by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Im Winterboden schläft ein Blumenkeim

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE FRE ITA

Im Winterboden schläft ein Blumenkeim,
Der Schmetterling, der einst um Busch und Hügel
In Frühlingsnächten wiegt den sammt'nen Flügel;
Nie soll er kosten deinen Honigseim.

Wer aber weiß, ob nicht sein zarter Geist,
Wenn jede Zier des Sommers hingesunken,
Dereinst, von deinem leisen Dufte trunken,
Mir unsichtbar, dich blühende umkreist?

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Eduard Mörike, Sechste Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Göschen'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1876, page 224.

Text Authorship:

by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), no title, appears in Auf eine Christblume, no. 2 [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 Matti Borg (b. 1956), "Auf eine Christblume", 1997-1998, published 1998 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from 12 Gedichte von Mörike, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Günter Klinzing (b. 1930), "Auf eine Christblume II", published 1995 [ high voice and piano ], from Vier Gedichte zu den Jahreszeiten von Eduard Mörike, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wolfgang Ulrich (1924 - 1995), "Christblume", 1984 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Auf eine Christblume II", from Mörike-Lieder, no. 21 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "To a Christmas rose II", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À une rose de Noël II", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Sur une rose de Noël II", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "A un elleboro II", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 50

To a Christmas rose II

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A flower's germ sleeps in the winter soil,
The butterfly that, round bush and hill,
Will sway its velvety wings in spring nights;
It shall never taste your nectar.   

Who ever knows, if its delicate spirit,
After the summer's beauty has swooned,
Will not one day, drunk with your soft scent,
Invisible to me, circle around you in bloom.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2004 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), no title, appears in Auf eine Christblume, no. 2
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-09-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 59