Going home in the evening | On his back, his bundle of wood

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by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850)

Translation © by Peter Palmer

Abendheimkehr

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Sein Bündel Holz am Rücken bringt
Der Arme heimgetragen;
Der frohe Knecht die Geißel schwingt
Am erntevollen Wagen.

Die milchbeladne Herde wiegt
Sich in die trauten Ställe;
Mit Scherz und Kuß zur Dirne fliegt
Der lustige Geselle.

Von Feld und Walde pfeift nach Haus
Der Jäger dort, der rasche;
Und Has und Wachtel guckt heraus,
Zu prahlen, aus der Tasche.

Den Dichter sieht man aus der Nacht
Der Eichen selig schwanken;
Er taumelt fort mit seiner Tracht
Unsterblicher Gedanken.

Text Authorship:

by Nikolaus Lenau (1802 - 1850), "Abendheimkehr", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Vermischte Gedichte [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 Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Abendheimkehr", op. 70 no. 5 (1954-5) [ medium voice and orchestra ], from Nachhall: Liederfolge nach Gedichten von Nikolaus Lenau und Matthias Claudius, no. 5, Wien: Universal Edition [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Peter Palmer) , "Going home in the evening", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Rentrée vespérale", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-09-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 79

Going home in the evening

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

On his back, his bundle of wood
The poor man bears home;
The cheerful farm lad cracks his whip
On the harvest-laden cart.

The herd with its burden of milk
Settles down in the homely cowsheds;
To his wench, with a joke and a kiss,
Flies the merry apprentice.

From field and forest the huntsman
Whistles on his swift journey home;
And hare and quail are peeping,
Like trophies, from his pocket.

One sees the poet blithely reeling
Out of the gloom of the oak-trees;
He staggers home with his load
Of immortal thoughts.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Peter Palmer, (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), "Abendheimkehr", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Vermischte Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 94