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Nacht ist wie ein stilles Meer, [Lust und Leid]1 und Liebesklagen [Kommen]2 so verworren her In dem linden Wellenschlagen. Wünsche wie die Wolken sind, Schiffen durch die [stillen]3 Räume, Wer erkennt im lauen Wind, Ob's Gedanken oder Träume? -- Schließ' ich nun auch Herz und Mund, Die so gern den Sternen klagen: Leise doch im Herzensgrund Bleibt das linde Wellenschlagen.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Joseph von Eichendorff, Sämtliche Gedichte und Versepen, Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 2001, page 299. First published in Dichter und ihre Gesellen, 1833
1 Hensel: "Leid und Lust"
2 Hensel: "Tönen"
3 Rheinberger: "leeren"
Text Authorship:
- by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Die Nachtblume", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe, first published 1833 [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Die Nachtblume", c1920-8, published 1928 [ voice and piano ], from Ten Songs by Ernst Bacon, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Walter Braunfels (1882 - 1954), "Die Nacht", op. 58 no. 2 (1918-1942) [ soprano and orchestra ], from Romantische Gesänge für Sopran und Orchester, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dorothee Fischer (1894 - 1981), "Die Nacht" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Nacht ist wie ein stilles Meer", 1846 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Leopold) Heinrich (Picot de Peccaduc), Freiherr von Herzogenberg (1843 - 1900), "Die Nachtblume", op. 22 no. 2, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Notturnos, no. 2, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Horwitz, né Curt Horwitz (1884 - 1925), "Die Nacht", op. 9 no. 2, published <<1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Armin Knab (1881 - 1951), "Die Nacht", published 1911 [ voice and guitar ], Munich: Verlag Gitarrefreund [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Egon Kornauth (1891 - 1959), "Die Nacht", op. 38 (Acht Lieder nach Eichendorff) no. 2 (1933) [ medium-high voice or high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Müller-Zürich (1898 - 1993), "Die Nachtblume" [ men's chorus ], from Vier Lieder in kanonischer Weise, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Josef Reiter (1862 - 1939), "Die Nachtblume ", op. 44 (Zwei vierstimmigen Männerchöre) no. 2, published 1899 [ four-part men's chorus ], Leipzig, Rob. Forberg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Die Nachtblume", op. 22 (Vier Gesänge) no. 2 (1859), published 1869 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig: E.W. Fritzsch (1869), Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag, (2004, ed. Manuela Jahrmärker) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Heinrich Kaspar Schmid (1874 - 1953), "Die Nacht", op. 23a (Drei Gedichte von Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff) no. 3, published 1913 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], München: Wunderhornverlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Die Nacht" [ voice and piano ], from Eichendorff-Lieder, no. 19 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josef Venantius von Wöss (1863 - 1943), "Die Nacht", op. 18 no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La nit", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Night is like a quiet sea", copyright ©
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La nuit", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Hamutal Atariah) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La notte è come un mare calmo", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 62
Night is like a quiet sea: joy and sorrow and the laments of love become tangled up in the gentle throbbing of the waves. Desires are like clouds that sail through the quiet space: who can recognize in the mild wind whether they are thoughts or dreams? Even if my heart and mouth now are closed, that once so easily lamented to the stars, still, at the bottom of my heart there remains the gentle throbbing of those waves.
Text 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 ArchiveFor any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Die Nachtblume", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe, first published 1833
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 80