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by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Ach wärst du mein, es wär' ein schönes...
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
[Ach]1 wärst du mein, es wär' ein schönes Leben!
So aber ists Entsagen nur und Trauern,
[Und]2 ein verlornes Grollen und Bedauern;
Ich kann es meinem Schicksal nicht vergeben.

Undank tut wohl und jedes Leid der Erde;
Ja! meine [Freund']3 in Särgen, Leich' an Leiche,
Sind ein gelinder Gram, wenn ichs vergleiche
Dem Schmerz, daß ich dich nie besitzen werde.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   R. Strauss 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Strauss: "O"
2 Strauss: "Nur"
3 Strauss: "Freud' "

Text Authorship:

  • by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850), "An *", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Viertes Buch, in Liebesklänge [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 Leopold Damrosch (1832 - 1885), "An *", op. 8 no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Hans Fleischer (1896 - 1981), "Ach, wärst du mein", op. 71 (6 Lieder für mittlere Singstimme und Klavier) no. 2 (1930) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Leonard Johann Heinrich) Albert Fuchs (1858 - 1910), "Ach wärst du mein, es wär' ein schön'res Leben", published 1879 [ mezzo-soprano or soprano or tenor and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Sopran oder Tenor) mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 5, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Adalbert von Goldschmidt (1848 - 1906), "Ach wärst du mein!", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Neue Lieder und Gesänge, no. 8, note: this may be the wrong text for this setting ; Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "O wärst du mein!", op. 26 (Zwei Lieder nach Nicolaus Lenau) no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To *", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "A *", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-05-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 63

A *
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Ô si tu étais mienne la vie serait plus belle!
Au lieu de cela, ce n'est que renoncement et tristesse,
Que ressentiments égarés et regrets;
Je ne peux en pardonner mon destin.

L'ingratitude est bien source de toutes les peines de la terre,
Oui! mes amis corps après corps dans le cercueil
Sont un moindre chagrin comparé
A la douleur de ne t'avoir jamais possédée.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850), "An *", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Viertes Buch, in Liebesklänge
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 65

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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