The dark green leaves eavesdropped | The dark green leaves eavesdropped

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by Karl Klingemann (1798 - 1862)

Translation © by Garrett Medlock

Es lauschte das Laub so dunkelgrün

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG

Es lauschte das Laub so dunkelgrün
Dort in das Fenster hinein,
Die Sonne darin am liebsten schien,
Dort sangen die Vögelein.
Sie wähnen, es werde so ewig währen,
Sie spielen und mögen's nicht anders begehren.

Es lauscht aus dem Laub so dunkelgrün,
Es strahlen dort Augen hinaus,
Es ranken die Reben im stillen Bemüh'n,
Umgarnen das einsame Haus.
Es wähnen die Armen, das Leuchten zu fangen,
Sie streben und weben mit Sehnsucht und Bangen.

Nun rauschet das Laub so gelblich rot,
Sieht nicht mehr in's Fenster hinein,
Das Vögelgezwitscher ist still und tot,
Vorüber der Sonnenschein!
Wohl mußte das freudige Grün verblassen,
Das Fenster im Laube ist leer und verlassen.

Text Authorship:

by Karl Klingemann (1798 - 1862) [author's text not yet checked 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 Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Es lauschte das Laub so dunkelgrün", op. posth. 86 (Sechs Gesänge für eine Singstimme und Klavier) no. 1 (1826) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El fullatge d’un verd fosc escoltava", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het lover, het loerde donkergroen", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The dark green leaves eavesdropped", copyright © 2020, (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: 18
Word count: 110

The dark green leaves eavesdropped

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The dark green leaves eavesdropped
There in the window,
The sun shone in most beautifully,
There sang the little birds.
They imagine it [would] last forever,
They play and [would] not want it [any differently].

The dark green leaves eavesdrop,
The eyes shine out,
The vines twine in quiet effort,
Ensnaring the deserted house.
The arms imagine they [can] catch the light,
They strive and weave with longing and anxiety.

Now the yellow-red leaves rustle,
They look no more into the window,
The birds’ twittering is silent and dead,
The sunshine is past!
The joyful green had to grow pale,
The window among the leaves is empty and abandoned.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 by Garrett Medlock, (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 Karl Klingemann (1798 - 1862)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-17
Line count: 18
Word count: 109