Mute Mourning | Deathly silence! Deepest stillness!

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Stumme Trauer

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Chosen for Diff

Todtenstille! Tiefstes Schweigen!
Welk die Frühlingsherrlichkeit!
Düster bis zur Erde neigen
Sich die Wolken weit und breit.

Todtenstille! -- Wie ich spähe,
Nicht ein Lüftchen rauscht im Baum;
Nur ein Blatt fällt in der Nähe
Auf den Rasen wie im Traum. --

O Natur wie willst du neigen
Trostreich dich zu meinem Schmerz:
Wie ein Freund mit heilgem Schweigen
Legst du mir die Hand auf's Herz.

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 137.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Stumme Trauer", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 156 [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 Heinrich Pfeil (1835 - 1899), "Stumme Trauer", op. 14, published 1882 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig: Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Stumme Trauer" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Eduard Rohde (1828 - 1883), "Stumme Trauer", op. 40 (Zehn Duettinnen für zwei Singstimmen mit Pianoforte) no. 9, published 1873 [ vocal duet with piano ], Breslau: Hientzsch [sung text not yet checked]
by Philipp Tietz (1816 - 1878) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Mute Mourning", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2022-10-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 64

Mute Mourning

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Chosen for Diff

Deathly silence! Deepest stillness!
The glory of spring has wilted!
Far and wide the clouds descend
Gloomily down to the earth.

Deathly silence! -- As I look about,
Not a breeze soughs in the tree;
Only a leaf falls nearby
Upon the lawn as if in a dream. --

Oh nature, how you wish to incline
Yourself to my pain, laden with comfort:
Like a friend, in holy silence,
You place your hand upon my heart.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Stumme Trauer", appears in Liederbuch, in 1. Naturlieder, no. 156
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 74