A mother's heart | Now the wind wants to blow away the leaves

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by Franz Alfred Muth (1839 - 1890)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Mutterherz

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Nun will das Laub der Wind verwehn,
Matt wird der Sonnenstrahl;
Doch wird's auch Herbst, mag Alles geh'n,
Mir blüht [der]¹ Lenz zumal.
Den bricht kein Wind, den nimmt kein Schmerz:
Es ist mein liebes Mutterherz.

  Schlöss' man den Englein auch die Thür
Des Paradieses zu,
Sie suchten dich, o glaub' es mir,
Geliebte Mutter du!
Ich hab' dein Herz und laß es nicht,
Bis meines einst im Tode bricht.

  Wol ist dein Haar, o Mütterlein,
Schon weiß wie Winterschnee,
Doch ist dein Herz voll [Rosenschein]²
Und ohne Dornenweh.
Was will der Herbst, der Erde Schmerz?
Mein Frühling blüht: der Mutter Herz!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• H. Wörle

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Franz Alfred Muth, Waldblumen, Dritte, durchaus ausgewählte und reich vermehrte Auflage, Paderborn: Druck und Verlag von Ferdinand Schöningh, 1885, page 82.

Note: [sic] for stanza 3, line 1 ("Wol" is an older spelling).

¹ Wörle: "ein"
² Wörle: "Sonnenschein"

Text Authorship:

by Franz Alfred Muth (1839 - 1890), "Mutterherz", appears in Waldblumen, in 2. Herzensklänge und Lebensstimmen [3rd edition] [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 Albert Ernst Anton Becker (1834 - 1899), "Mutterherz", op. 93 (Fünf ernste Gesänge für Männerchor) no. 4, published 1899 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Hans Wörle (flourished c1894), "Mutterherz", op. 11, published 1894 [ medium voice and piano ], from Blüten-Knospen. 5 Lieder für eine mittlere Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 4, Georg Verza, Landsberg [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 105

A mother's heart

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Now the wind wants to blow away the leaves,
The sun's beams grow pale;
But though autumn comes, though everything may vanish,
For me springtime blossoms particularly.
No wind may break it, no pain may take it away:
It is my dear mother's heart.

  Even if one closed the door of paradise,
Shutting the angels out,
They would seek you, oh believe me,
You beloved mother!
I have your heart and shall not leave hold of it
Until my own once breaks in death.

  Though your hair, oh dear mother, is already
As white as winter's snow,
Your heart nevertheless is full of the glow of roses
And without the pain of thorns.
What do I care for autumn, for the pain of the world?
My spring blooms:  my mother's heart!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2021 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 Franz Alfred Muth (1839 - 1890), "Mutterherz", appears in Waldblumen, in 2. Herzensklänge und Lebensstimmen [3rd edition]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 132