Song | May the wind tremble in the sail

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by August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796 - 1835)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Mag der Wind im Segel beben

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Mag der Wind im Segel beben
   Der das Schiff nach Westen trägt
   Wo das freye, stolzes Leben 
   Ein erwachtes Volk bewegt,
   Wo der phaeton'sche Wagen
   Edle Palmenkeime schwellt,
   Wo die Cordilleras ragen,
   Wo der Strom von Silber fällt:

Der erhitzte Wahn der Jugend, 
   Der das Glück sich fern verheißt, 
   Weiche deiner strengern Tugend, 
   Weiche deinem größern Geist, 
   Soll der letzte Stern erbleichen 
   An des deutschen Himmels Rand, 
   O so decken unsre Leichen 
   Das verlor'ne Vaterland!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Vermischte Schriften von August Graf von Platen-Hallermünde, Erlangen: bey Carl Heyder, 1822, page 58.

Text Authorship:

by August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796 - 1835), no title, appears in Vermischete Schriften, in Lieder 1813-1818, no. 7 [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by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Lied", 1834 [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Song", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-01-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 75

Song

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

May the wind tremble in the sail,
   [The wind] that carries the boat towards the west
   Where free, proud life
   Animates an awakened people,
   Where Phaeton’s wagon
   Swells noble palm sprouts,
   Where the Cordilleras loom,
   Where the silver river falls:

May the heated delusion of youth
   That promises itself distant happiness
   Give way before your stricter virtue,
   Give way before your greater spirit[.]
   Should the last star fade
   Upon the edge of the German heaven,
   Oh then our corpses shall cover
   The lost homeland!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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 August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796 - 1835), no title, appears in Vermischete Schriften, in Lieder 1813-1818, no. 7
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-01-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 84