The Shining Sea | Out from the sea's dark depths

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by (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863)

Translation © by Andrew Schneider

Meeresleuchten

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Aus des Meeres dunklen Tiefen
  Stieg die Venus still empor,
Als die Nachtigallen riefen
  In dem Hain, den sie erkor.

Und zum Spiegel, voll Verlangen,
  Glätteten die Wogen sich,
Um ihr Bild noch aufzufangen,
  Da sie selbst auf ewig wich.

Lächelnd gönnte sie dem feuchten
  Element den letzten Blick,
Davon blieb dem Meer sein Leuchten
  Bis auf diesen Tag zurück.

Confirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich Hebbel. Gesammt-Ausgabe stark vermehrt und verbessert, Stuttgart und Augsburg, J. G. Cotta'scher Verlag, 1857, page 258.

Text Authorship:

by (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863), "Meeresleuchten", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Vermischte Gedichte, first published 1845 [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 Peter Gast (1854 - 1918), "Meeresleuchten", op. 8 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1900 [ soprano and piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
by (Leopold) Heinrich (Picot de Peccaduc), Freiherr von Herzogenberg (1843 - 1900), "Meeresleuchten", op. 73 (Drei Gesänge) no. 3, published 1891 [ SATB quartet with piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Andrew Schneider) , "The Shining Sea", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Claus-Christian Schuster [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

The Shining Sea

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Out from the sea's dark depths
Venus rose quietly upward,
As the nightingales called 
in the woods that she chose.

And the waves smoothed themselves
as unto a mirror, full of longing.
They still endeavour to capture her image,
that she herself forever softened.

Smiling, she graciously allowed 
to the wet element a final exposure,
which remains as a result upon the sea
until this very day.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Andrew Schneider, (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 (Christian) Friedrich Hebbel (1813 - 1863), "Meeresleuchten", appears in Gedichte, in 3. Vermischte Gedichte, first published 1845
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-04-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 67