Dark day, what shall you bring? | Dark day, what shall you bring?

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Dunkler Tag, was wirst du bringen?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Dunkler Tag, was wirst du bringen? 
Linde Luft und Sonnenschein? 
Oder wird der Sturm sich schwingen 
Eisig über's Land herein? 

  Dunkler Tag, und hältst verborgen 
Du was rings mich erst entzückt, 
Still wie du, will ich nicht sorgen, 
Wann mich neuer Glanz beglückt. 

  Trotz dem Nebel mag ich sehen 
Glühn und schimmern alle Höhn: 
Ja! mag recht dich wer verstehen, 
Dunkler Tag, wie bist du schön!

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 136.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Dunkler Tag, was wirst du bringen?", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 155 [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 Jakob Nater (1826 - 1906) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Dark day, what shall you bring?", 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: 67

Dark day, what shall you bring?

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Dark day, what shall you bring?
Balmy breezes and sunshine?
Or shall the storm descend
Icily upon the land?

  Dark day, and though you keep concealed
Everything all about that enraptures me,
Yet quiet like you, I shall not be anxious
About when new radiance shall delight me.

  Despite the fog I may see
All the heights glowing and shimmering:
Yes! if one is able to understand you rightly,
Dark day, how beautiful you are!

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), "Dunkler Tag, was wirst du bringen?", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 155
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 76