Holder Lenz, du bist dahin!
[Nirgends, nirgends]1 darfst du bleiben!
Wo ich sah dein frohes Blühn,
Braust des Herbstes banges Treiben.

Wie der Wind so traurig fuhr
Durch [den Strauch]2, als ob er weine;
Sterbeseufzer der Natur
Schauern durch [die welken Haine]3.

Wieder ist, wie bald! wie bald!
Mir ein Jahr [dahingeschwunden]4.
Fragend rauscht es [aus dem]5 Wald:
"Hat dein Herz sein Glück gefunden?"

Waldesrauschen, wunderbar
Hast du [mir das]6 Herz getroffen!
Treulich bringt ein jedes Jahr
[Welkes Laub und welkes]7 Hoffen.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Nicolaus Lenau, Gesammt-Ausgabe, Leipzig, Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun., 1881, pages 40-41.

¹ Bill: "Nirgends"
² Schoeck: "die Straßen" (streets)
³ Bill: "den welken Hain"
⁴ Bill: "geschwunden"
⁵ Bill: "durch den"
⁶ Bill: "mein"
⁷ Bill, Mendelssohn: "Neues Laub wie neues" (new leaves like new)

Text Authorship:

• by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850), "Herbstklage", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Herbst, first published 1831? [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 Carl Banck (1809 - 1889), "Herbstklage ", op. 69 (Dichtungen von Lenau, für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 6, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Bill (1863 - 1936), "Herbstlied", op. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Franke (1834 - 1919), "Herbstlied", op. 6 (Sechs Gesänge für vierstimmigen Männerchor) no. 6, published 1865 [ four-part men's chorus ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Walther Friederichsen , "Herbstklage", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Lieder von N. Lenau für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Offenbach am Main: Johann André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich XXIV. Prinz Reuss zu Köstritz (1855 - 1910), "Herbstklage", op. 2 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Gutmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Adolf Lorenz, Dr. (1837 - 1923), "Herbstlied", op. 48 no. 6, published 1877 [ SATB chorus or men's chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Czesław Józef Marek (1891 - 1985), "Herbstklage", op. 17 no. 1 (1915), published 1977 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lenau-Lieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Herbstlied", op. 48 no. 6 (1839) [ chorus ], from Der erste Frühlingstag - Sechs Lieder im Freien zu singen, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Richard Metzdorff (1844 - 1919), "Herbstklage ", op. 20 no. 3, published 1875 [ voice and piano ], Braunschweig, Litolff  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Herbstklage", op. 251 no. 2 (2016) [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder nach Nikolaus Lenau, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Herbstklage", JWV 137 no. 4 (1862), published 2019 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Herbstklage", op. 36 no. 12 (1923) [ voice and chamber orchestra ], from Elegie: Liederfolge nach Gedichten von Nikolaus Lenau und Joseph von Eichendorff, no. 12, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ferdinand Sieber (1822 - 1895), "Herbstklage", op. 69 (Drei Lieder für Alt oder Bass mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1863 [ alto or bass and piano ], Berlin, Mendel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Julius Stockhaus , "Herbstklage", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Weber (1845 - 1887), "Herbstklage", op. 2 (Fünf zweistimmige Lieder für Sopran und Alt mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1878 [ vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
• by Max Zenger (1837 - 1911), "Herbstklage", op. 37 (Sechs Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1880 [ medium voice and piano ], München, Schmid & Janke [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó de tardor", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Autumn lament/song", copyright © 2004
• ENG English (Walter A. Aue) , "Lovely Spring, you left so soon!", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Plainte d'automne", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 82

Lovely Spring, you left so soon!
Nowhere, nowhere dare you linger!
Where once shone your joyful bloom
reigns the fall, the worry-bringer.

How the wind so sadly passed
through the bushes, as if crying;
sounds of Nature's death at last
in the fallow groves are sighing.

And it seems - so fast! so fast!
that another year departed.
Whispers from the forest ask:
"Have your happy hours started?"

Sylvan whispers' magic sense
targetted my inner groping:
Faithfully each year presents
faded leaves and faded hoping.