Sons | Des mots, je n'en ai pas pour te dire

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by Rudolph Otto

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Töne

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: DUT FRE

Worte hab ich nicht, um dir zu sagen,
Was für dich im tiefsten Herzen glüht,
Worte find'ich nicht, um dir zu klagen,
Wie der Sehnsucht Weh die Brust durchzieht.

Höre denn der Saiten leises Flehen,
Höre denn der Töne mächt'gen Klang,
Liebe flüsternd wie des Zephyrs Wehen,
Brausend wie der Strom in wildem Drang.

Nah'n sie dir auf ihren Geisterschwingen,
Und du lauschest meinen Boten nicht,
Mögen sie verrauschen und verklingen,
Wie mein Herz in stiller Wehmut bricht.

The version of the Spohr song as sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has the following changes: in stanza 1, line 2, "im tiefsten" is "in meinem"; in stanza 1, line 4, "Wie der Sehnsucht Weh" is "Welche Sehnsucht mir"; in stanza 2, line 2, "mächt'gen" is "starken"; in stanza 2, line 3, "Zephyrs" is "Windes"; in stanza 2, line 4, "wildem" is "seinem"; and stanza 3 has been replaced by

Wenn sie dir dann meine Botschaft bringen,
Und du hörst auf ihre Zeichen nicht,
Mögen sie verrauschen und verklingen
Und es löscht der letzten Hoffnung Licht.

Text Authorship:

by Rudolph Otto [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 Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Töne", op. 154 no. 3 (1856), published 1857 [ baritone, violin, and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Bariton mit Begleitung von Violine und Klavier, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Tonen", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Sons", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Michael Leinert

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 78

Sons

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

Des mots, je n'en ai pas pour te dire
Ce qui brûle pour toi au plus profond de mon cœur,
Des mots, je n'en trouve pas pour me plaindre auprès de toi
De ce qu'un tel désir étreigne ma poitrine

Écoute alors la douce prière des cordes,
Écoute alors le bruit puissant des sons,
L'amour qui chuchote comme la douleur du vent,
Rugissant comme le courant dans son élan.

Quand ils t'apportent mon message
Et que tu n'écoutes pas leurs signes,
Puissent-ils s'évanouir et disparaître
Et que la dernière lueur d'espoir s'éteigne.

Note: this is a translation of the version as sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © by Guy Laffaille, (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 Rudolph Otto
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 92