Love without home | My love, so like the dove

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by Gottfried August Bürger (1747 - 1794)

Translation © by John H. Campbell

Liebe ohne Heimat

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Meine Liebe, lange wie die Taube, 
Von dem Falken hin und her gescheucht, 
Wähnte froh, sie hab' ihr Nest erreicht 
In den Zweigen einer Götterlaube. 

Armes Täubchen! Hart getäuschter Glaube!
Herbes Schicksal, dem kein andres gleicht!
Ihre Heimat, kaum dem Blick gezeigt, 
Wurde schnell dem Wetterstrahl zum Raube. 

Ach, nun irrt sie wieder hin und her!
Zwischen Erd' und Himmel schwebt die Arme, 
Sonder Ziel für ihres Flugs Beschwer.

Denn ein Herz, das ihrer sich erbarme, 
Wo sie noch einmal wie einst erwarme, 
Schlägt für sie auf Erden nirgends mehr.

Text Authorship:

by Gottfried August Bürger (1747 - 1794), "Liebe ohne Heimat", subtitle: "Sonnett", appears in Lyrische Gedichte, first published 1789 [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 Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Liebe ohne Heimat", 1859 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "Love without home", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: John H. Campbell

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 90

Love without home

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

My love, so like the dove,
back and forth from the falcon shied away,
thinking gladly, she has reached her nest
in the sheltering branches of the tree.

Poor little dove!  Unfortunate error!
Cruel fate, like no other!
Her home, in the blink of an eye,
was quickly destroyed by the lightning.

Oh, now she wanders back and forth again!  
Between earth and sky the poor thing hovers,
separated from her goal by her perilous flight,

because a heart that cared for her,
where she once found refuge,
now beats for her no more on Earth.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by John H. Campbell, (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 Gottfried August Bürger (1747 - 1794), "Liebe ohne Heimat", subtitle: "Sonnett", appears in Lyrische Gedichte, first published 1789
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 96