In the night | As a mother does to her child

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by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

In der Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Wie die Mutter ihrem Kinde
leg mir deine kühlen Hände
auf die Stirn, die denkensmüde,
          stiller Schlaf.

Küsse mir die blassen Lippen,
die ich rot dem Leben bot,
dass ich aller Lust vergesse,
dass ich alle Qual verwinde,
          die mich traf.

Gieb mir Frieden, hab Erbarmen!
Halte mich in deinen Armen
Fern von Lebensneid und -Not,
bis dein Bruder kommt, der Tod.

Confirmed with Sehnen und Suchen, Vierte Auflage, Rostock: C.J.E. Volckmann (Volckman & Wetter), 1905, page 129.

Text Authorship:

by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946), "In der Nacht", appears in Sehnen und Suchen: Gedichte, in Einkehr und Wende, in Einsame Wege [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 Heinrich Kaspar Schmid (1874 - 1953), "In der Nacht", op. 17 (Fünf Gedichte) no. 3, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], München: Wunderhornverlag [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "In the night", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2024-01-04
Line count: 13
Word count: 62

In the night

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

As a mother does to her child,
lay your cool hands
upon my brow, which is weary of thinking,
          silent sleep.

Kiss my pale lips, the lips
that I offered to life when they were red,
so that I might forget all joy,
so that I might come to terms with all agony
          that struck me.

Give me peace, have mercy!
Hold me in your arms,
far from the envy and misery of life,
until Death, your brother, comes.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946), "In der Nacht", appears in Sehnen und Suchen: Gedichte, in Einkehr und Wende, in Einsame Wege
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-11-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 79