by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Zwielicht
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): DUT ENG FRE HEB ITA NOR POR SPA
Dämmrung will die Flügel spreiten,
Schaurig rühren sich die Bäume,
Wolken ziehn wie schwere Träume -
Was will dieses Grau'n bedeuten?

Hast ein Reh du lieb vor andern,
Laß es nicht alleine grasen,
Jäger ziehn im Wald und blasen,
Stimmen hin und wieder wandern.

Hast du einen Freund hienieden,
Trau ihm nicht zu dieser Stunde,
Freundlich wohl mit Aug' und Munde,
Sinnt er Krieg im tück'schen Frieden.

Was heut [müde gehet]1 unter,
Hebt sich morgen neu geboren.
Manches [bleibt]2 in Nacht verloren -
Hüte dich, [bleib]3 wach und munter!

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Joseph Freiherrn von Eichendorffs sämtlich poetische Werk, Zweiter Band, Dritte Auflage, Leipzig, C. F. Amelang's Verlag, 1883, p. 436.

Note: some 20th century editions of Eichendorff have "wider" instead of "wieder" in stanza 2, line 4, but "wieder" is prevalent in the editions that came out in the 19th century. (With thanks to Alfred Liebel for pointing this out.)
1 Schumann: "gehet müde"
2 Schumann: "geht"
3 Schumann: "sei"

Authorship

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

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

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Deemstering", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Twilight", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Pénombre", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "דימדומים", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Crepuscolo", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Grålysning", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POR Portuguese (Português) (Elke Beatriz Riedel) , "Penumbra", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Diego S. Loyola) , "Medialuz", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 89

Twilight
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Dusk prepares to spread its wings,
the trees rustle ominously,
clouds approach like heavy dreams -
what does this horror mean?

If you have a favorite roe,
don't let it graze alone;
hunters roam the forest, sounding their horns,
their voices straying hither and thither.

If you have a friend on earth,
do not trust him in this hour;
friendly might he seem in eye and mouth,
yet he plans for war in deceitful peace.

What today goes wearily down,
will lift itself tomorrow newly born.
Much goes astray at night -
beware - be alert and wide awake!

Note: the last line was changed 2014-01-20 from "their voices straying time and again" to "their voices straying hither and thither".

Authorship

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 99