Illusory life | The giant trunk of an oak

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Scheinleben

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Einer Eiche Riesenstamm 
Sah ich liegen an der Halde, 
Den zur Winterzeit die Axt 
Niederhieb im nahen Walde.

Und, o Wunder! nun im Lenz 
Aus des todten Stammes Rinde 
Üppge Schosse wachsen auf, 
Wiegen freudig sich im Winde. 

Ach! ein holder Trug ist's nur! 
Sahst du's nie mit bittern Schmerzen, 
Wie noch taglang lebt ein Mensch, 
Und hat schon den Tod im Herzen?

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, pages 45-46.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Scheinleben", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 50 [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 Philipp Tietz (1816 - 1878) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Illusory life", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 63

Illusory life

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The giant trunk of an oak
I saw lying at the acclivity,
[A trunk] that an axe in winter
Had hewn down in the nearby forest.

And, oh miracle! now in spring
From out of the dead trunk's bark
Abundant shoots are growing upward,
Swaying happily in the wind.

Ah! it is only a lovely delusion!
Did you never see how with bitter pains
A man still lives for days,
And yet already has death in his heart?

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 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), "Scheinleben", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 50
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 78