Evening clouds | Is earthly sorrow reflected back transfigured

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Abendwolken

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Strahlt Erdenweh verklärt zurück, 
Du Wolkenburg, von deinen Zinnen? 
Will, freundlich tröstend, Himmelsglück 
Im Strom des Lichtes niederrinnen? 
  Dank Gott ich hier? Schwing' ich mich fort? 
  Ach schön, ach schön ist's hier und dort! 

Will Erdenglück, von reinerm Licht 
Verschönt, vom Himmel niederschauen? 
Ist's Weh, das durch den Himmel bricht, 
Und liebevoll schaut aus dem Blauen? 
  Dank Gott ich hier? Schwing' ich mich fort? 
  Ach schön, ach schön ist's hier und dort! 

Einst alles Weh und alles Glück 
Wird dort sich wunderbar vereinen; 
Schaust du hinan, schaust du zurück, 
Im selben Glanze dir erscheinen. 
  Schwing froh, schwing froh, mein Herz dich fort: 
  Schön wohl ist's hier, noch schöner dort!

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 108.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Abendwolken", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 121 [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) , "Evening clouds", 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: 2025-08-21
Line count: 18
Word count: 109

Evening clouds

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Is earthly sorrow reflected back transfigured
From your battlements, you castle of clouds?
Does heavenly happiness, amiably comforting,
Wish to flow down in the river of light?
  Shall I thank God here? Shall I soar upward?
  Ah it is beautiful, ah beautiful, both here and there!

Does earthly happiness, beautified by a purer light,
Wish to look down from Heaven?
Is it sorrow that breaks through the sky
And gazes lovingly from out of the blue?
  Shall I thank God here? Shall I soar upward?
  Ah it is beautiful, ah beautiful, both here and there!

Someday all sorrow and all happiness
Shall be wondrously united there;
If you look up, if you look back,
Both shall appear to you in the same radiance.
  My heart, soar joyfully, soar joyfully upward:
  It may well be beautiful here, but it is even more beautiful there!

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), "Abendwolken", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 121
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-08-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 143