by Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769 - 1860)
Translation Singable translation by Francis L. Soper
Hail! Beauteous stranger of the grove
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Hail! Beauteous stranger of the grove, Thou messenger of spring! Now heav'n repairs thy rural seat, And woods thy welcome sing. What time the daisy decks the green, Thy certain voice we hear; Hast thou a star to guide thy path, Or mark the rolling year. Delightful visitant! With thee I hail the time of flow'rs, And hear the sound of music sweet >From birds among the bow'rs. The school-boy wand'ring thro' the wood, To pluck the primrose gay; Starts the new voice of spring to hear, And imitates the lay. What time the pea puts on the bloom, Thou fliest thy vocal vale; An annual guest in other lands, Another spring to hail. Sweet bird! Thy bow'r is ever green, Thy sky is ever clear; Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, No winter in thy year. O, could I fly, I'd fly with thee; We'd make with joyful wing, Our annual visit o'er the globe, Companions of the Spring.
Note: Soper's text is not even remotely faithful to the German original.
Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann
Authorship:
- Singable translation by Francis L. Soper , "Hail! Beauteous stranger of the grove", appears in Sixty melodies for youth, for two, three, and four voices, composed by Silcher, adapted to English words, for the use of schools and singing classes, first published 1850 [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769 - 1860), appears in Reime aus einem Gebetbuche für zwei fromme Kinder, no. 7
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2004-11-28
Line count: 28
Word count: 161