Lonely birch tree! | Lonely birch tree, high up yonder

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Einsame Birke!

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Einsame Birke, hoch oben dort, 
Ach, wie so traurig schaust du in's Thal! 
Seufzend und schauernd in einem fort, 
Und deine glänzenden Blätter wie fahl! 

Wie auch die Zweige du hebest bang, 
Nirgends, nirgends ein einziger Strahl! 
Eisiger Duft nur den Höhn entlang, 
Und dir zu Füßen Alles wie kahl!

Elend, und einsam im Elend zu sein, 
Ach, wär's nicht genug schon der Qual? 
Tausendfältiges Weh ist dein, 
Wich mit dem Glücke dein Hoffen zumal!

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, pages 138-139.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Einsame Birke!", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 158 [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 Johann Peter Gotthard (1839 - 1919) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Lonely birch tree!", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 75

Lonely birch tree!

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Lonely birch tree, high up yonder,
Ah, how sadly you gaze into the valley!
Continuously sighing and shuddering,
And your shining leaves, how drab [they are]!

No matter how you lift your branches anxiously,
Nowhere, nowhere a single beam!
Only icy scents along the heights,
And how bare [is] everything at your feet!

To be miserable and lonely in your misery,
Ah, would that not already be enough agony?
A thousandfold more dire woe is yours
If your hope vanished along with your good fortune!

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), "Einsame Birke!", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 158
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-31
Line count: 12
Word count: 85