Final smile | The winds are still so mild and balmy

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Letztes Lächeln

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Die Lüfte noch so mild und lau, 
Der Himmel wie so klar und blau! 
  Doch Alles kahl ringsum, 
  Und, ach! so todtenstumm! 

O bittrer Wahn! o eitler Schein! 
Nicht ist's der Lenz, der bricht herein,
  Weh! nur in letzter Noth
  Ein Lächeln vor dem Tod!

Nur wenig Zeit, da ziehen her
Von Norden Wolken grau und schwer,
  Am Abend aber weit
  Ist Alles überschneit!

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 128.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Letztes Lächeln", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 145 [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 Philipp Tietz (1816 - 1878) [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 64

Final smile

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The winds are still so mild and balmy,
The sky, how very clear and blue!
  But everything round about [is] bare,
  And, ah! so deathly mute!

Oh bitter delusion! oh vain appearance!
It is not spring that is bursting in,
  Woe! only in its last misery,
  A smiling before death!

Only a short time, then from the north
Grey and heavy clouds shall come,
  By evening the whole expanse 
  Shall be covered with snow!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Letztes Lächeln", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 145
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 74