Romance | I creep around, anxious and silent

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by Ignaz Franz Castelli (1781 - 1862)

Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Romanze

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: DUT ENG FRE

Ich schleiche bang' und still herum,
Das Herz pocht mir so schwer,
Das Leben däucht mir öd' und stumm,
Und Flur und Burg so leer,
Und jede Freude spricht mir Hohn
Und jeder Ton ist Klageton,
Ist der Geliebte fern
Trübt sich des Auges Stern.

Ach! was die Liebe einmahl band,
Soll nie sich trennen mehr,
Was suchst du in dem fremden Land
Und weit dort über'm Meer?
Wenn dort auch buntre Blumen blüh'n,
Kein Herz wird heißer für dich glüh'n,
O bleib nicht länger fern,
Du meines Lebens Stern!

Confirmed with Dramatisches Sträußchen für das Jahr 1823. Von J. F. Castelli. Achter Jahrgang. Wien. Gedruckt und im Verlage bey J. B. Wallishausser, pages 232-233; and with Arien und Gesänge aus dem Singspiel: Die Verschwornen. In Einem Aufzuge, von Castelli, und in Musik gesetzt vom Königl. Musikdirektor G. A. Schneider. Berlin [1824?], page 6.

The poem appears in Castelli's libretto Die Verschwornen (alternative title: Der häusliche Krieg) in scene 2 as Helene's Romanze.

Text Authorship:

by Ignaz Franz Castelli (1781 - 1862), "Romanze", first published 1823 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Romanze", D 787 no. 2 (1823), published 1889, first performed 1861 [ soprano, orchestra ], from operetta Die Verschworenen, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "'k Sluip bang en stil maar om en om", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Romance", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Les conspirateurs", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 90

Romance

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I creep around, anxious and silent,
My heart is beating so heavily,
Life appears to me to be barren and mute,
And the fields and the castle are both so empty,
And each joy speaks mockingly to me
And each note is a note of lament,
Whenever my beloved is far away,
The star of my eye clouds over.

Oh! that which love once bound together
Should never again be separated,
What are you looking for in that foreign land
And so far off across the sea?
Even if bright flowers blossom there
No heart will glow more warmly for you,
Oh do not stay away any longer,
You, the star of my life!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Malcolm Wren, (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 Ignaz Franz Castelli (1781 - 1862), "Romanze", first published 1823
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-06-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 114