Mit der Nacht vertraut | Bin einer, der vertraut ist mit der Nacht

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Translation © by Walter A. Aue

Acquainted with the night

Language: English

Our translations: GER ITA

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "Acquainted with the night", appears in West-Running Brook, first published 1928 [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 John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Acquainted with the night", 1950 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arnold Freed (b. 1926), "Acquainted with the night", published 1965 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "Acquainted with the night", op. 48 no. 4 (1982) [ mezzo-soprano, cello, and piano ], from Five Poems by Robert Frost, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Mit der Nacht vertraut", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Ho preso confidenza con la notte", copyright © 2025, (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: 14
Word count: 109

Mit der Nacht vertraut

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Bin einer, der vertraut ist mit der Nacht.
Ich ging im Regen aus - im Regen heim.
Ging weiter als die Stadt das Licht gebracht.

Ich sah der Straßen längstes Traurigsein.
Ich ging an des Gesetzes Aug' vorbei
Und senkt' den Blick - da ließ es mich allein.

Bin still gestanden, daß es stille sei
Wenn über Straßen, über Häuser weh
Im Winde flog ein abgeriss'ner Schrei:

Kein 'Komm zurück!' für mich und kein 'Ade!';
Und, weiter noch, wie erdenfern erdacht
Am Himmel ich das Licht der Turmuhr seh':

Drauf Zeit, die richtig nicht, nicht falsch gemacht.
Bin einer, der vertraut ist mit der Nacht.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "Acquainted with the night", appears in West-Running Brook, first published 1928
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 103