When we parted, the sky was stormy and forlorn

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by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Als wir schieden, da war's am Himmel...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE ITA

Als wir schieden, da war's am Himmel stürmisch und trübe,
  Lag die Erde [so]¹ kalt, schwiegen die Vögel im Tal.
Jahre schwanden indes, noch stürmt mir immer der Himmel,
  Liegt die Erde mir kalt, singt mir kein Vogel im Tal.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Lang

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Justinus Kerner Werke, Zweiter Teil, Gedichte, ed. Raimund Pissin, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., 1914, page 192.

¹ Lang: "mir"

Text Authorship:

by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "An L. U[hland]", appears in Gedichte, in Die lyrischen Gedichte [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 Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Abschied", op. 11 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 4 (1835), published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Adieu", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Congedo", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Joanna Lonergan , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2005-03-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 41

When we parted, the sky was stormy and...

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

When we parted, the sky was stormy and forlorn,
  The earth lay [so cold]¹, the birds fell silent in the valley.
Years have passed since then, [but] for me, the sky is still stormy,
  The earth [still] lies cold before me, [and] no bird sings for me in the valley.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Translated titles:
"Abschied" = "Farewell"
"An L. U[hland]" = "To L. U[hland"
¹ Lang: "cold before me"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "An L. U[hland]", appears in Gedichte, in Die lyrischen Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-11-21
Line count: 4
Word count: 52