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

Vom Strande
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): DUT ENG FRE
Ich rufe vom Ufer
Verlorenes Glück,
Die Ruder nur schallen
Zum Strande zurück.

Vom Strande, lieb' Mutter,
Wo der Wellenschlag geht,
Da fahren die Schiffe,
Mein Liebster drauf steht.
Je mehr ich sie rufe,
Je schneller der Lauf,
Wenn ein Hauch sie entführet,
Wer hielte sie auf?
Der Hauch meiner Klagen
Die Segel nur schwillt,
Je mehr mein Verlangen
Zurücke sie hält!
Verhielt' ich die Klagen:
Es löst' sie der Schmerz,
Und Klagen und Schweigen
Zersprengt mir das Herz.

Ich rufe vom Ufer
Verlorenes Glück,
Die Ruder nur schallen
Zum Strande zurück.

So flüchtige Schlösser,
Wer könnt' ihn'n vertrau'n
Und Liebe, die bliebe,
Mit Freuden d'rauf bau'n?
Wie Vögel im Fluge,
Wo ruhen sie aus?
So eilige Wand'rer,
Sie finden kein Haus,
Zertrümmern der Wogen
Grünen Kristall,
Und was sie berühren,
Verwandelt sich all.
Es wandeln die Wellen
Und wandelt der Wind,
Meine Schmerzen im Herzen
Beständig nur sind.

Ich rufe vom Ufer
Verlorenes Glück,
Die Ruder nur schallen
Zum Strande zurück.

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, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , title 1: "From the beach", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "De la plage", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , title 1: "Vanaf het strand", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:01:27
Line count: 44
Word count: 162

From the beach
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
 I call from the shore
 To my lost happiness;
 Only the sound of the oars
 Echoes back to the beach.

 From the beach, dear mother,
 Where the pounding waves go,
 There sail the ships:
 My beloved is on one of them. 
 The more I call,
 The faster they run.
 If a wind carries them off,
 Who could protect them?
 The breath of my lament
 Only swells the sails,
 The more my yearning
 Would hold them back!
 If I held back my laments,
 My sorrow would release them,
 So between lamenting and keeping silent
 My heart is torn.

I call from the shore
 To my lost happiness;
 Only the sound of the oars
 Echoes back to the beach.

 Such volatile castles:
 Who could trust them,
 And build Love, a lasting one,
 Upon them with joy?
 Like birds in flight,
 Where do they rest?
 Such hurried wanderers,
 They find no home,
 Troubling the waves
 Of green crystal;
  And what they disturb
 Is transformed entirely.
 The waves move on,
 And the wind blows on;
 Only the agony in my heart
 Remains unchanging.

I call from the shore
To my lost happiness;
Only the sound of the oars
Echoes back to the beach.

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

 

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:01:27
Line count: 44
Word count: 200