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Kennst du die Blume, die märchenhafte, sagengefeierte Wasserrose? Sie wiegt auf ätherischem, schlankem Schafte das durchsicht'ge Haupt, das farbenlose, sie blüht auf schilfigem Teich im Haine, gehütet vom Schwan, der umkreiset sie einsam, sie erschließt sich nur dem Mondenscheine, mit dem ihr der silberne Schimmer gemeinsam: so blüht sie, die zaub'rische Schwester der Sterne, umschwärmt von der träumerisch dunklen Phaläne, die am Rande des Teichs sich sehnet von ferne, und sie nimmer erreicht, wie sehr sie sich sehne. Wasserrose, so nenn' ich die schlanke, nachtlock'ge Maid, alabastern von Wangen, in dem Auge der ahnende tiefe Gedanke, als sei sie ein Geist und auf Erden gefangen. Wenn sie spricht, ist's wie silbernes Wogenrauschen, wenn sie schweigt, ist's die ahnende Stille der Mondnacht; sie scheint mit den Sternen Blicke zu tauschen, deren Sprache die gleiche Natur sie gewohnt macht; du kannst nie ermüden, in's Aug' ihr zu schau'n, das die seidne, lange Wimper umsäumt hat, und du glaubst, wie bezaubert von seligem Grau'n, was je die Romantik von Elfen geträumt hat.
Authorship:
- by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912) [author's text not yet checked 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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Wasserrose", op. 22 no. 4 (1888), published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Mädchenblumen, no. 4, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El nenúfar", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Waterlelie", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Waterlily", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Heide Wiesner) , "Nénuphar", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Nymphéa", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Lau Kanen [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 169
Do you know the flower, the fantastic waterlily, celebrated in myth? On a slim, ethereal stem bobs its translucent, colorless head; it blooms by reedy pools in groves, protected by the swan, who circles it in solitary vigil; it opens only in the moonlight with which it shares its silver glimmer: thus does it bloom, the magical sister of the star, idolized for its dreamy, dark tendrils which by the edge of the pool can be seen from afar, never reaching what it yearns for. Waterlily, so do I call the slim maiden with night-dark locks and alabaster cheeks, with deep foreboding thoughts showing in her eyes as if they were ghosts imprisoned on Earth. When she speaks, it is like the silvery rushing of water; when she is silent, it is the pregnant silence of the moonlit night. She seems to have exchanged radiant expressions with the stars, whose language, of the same nature, she has grown accustomed to. You can never grow weary of gazing in those eyes fringed with silky, long lashes, and you believe, as if blessedly, terrifyingly bewitched, whatever the Romatics have dreamed about Elves.
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 191