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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.

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

by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Regenlied
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE SPA
Walle, Regen, walle nieder,
Wecke [mir die Träume]1 wieder,
Die [ich in der]2 Kindheit träumte,
Wenn das Naß im Sande schäumte!

Wenn die matte Sommerschwüle
Lässig stritt mit frischer Kühle,
Und die blanken Blätter [thauten]3,
Und die Saaten dunkler blauten.

Welche Wonne, in dem Fließen
Dann zu stehn mit nackten Füßen,
An dem Grase hinzustreifen
Und den Schaum mit Händen greifen,

Oder mit den heißen Wangen
Kalte Tropfen aufzufangen,
Und den neu erwachten Düften
Seine Kinderbrust zu lüften!

Wie die Kelche, die da troffen,
Stand die Seele athmend offen,
Wie die Blumen, düftetrunken,
In dem Himmelsthau versunken.

Schauernd kühlte jeder Tropfen
Tief bis an des Herzens Klopfen,
Und der Schöpfung heilig Weben
Drang bis ins verborgne Leben. --

Walle, Regen, walle nieder,
Wecke [meine]4 alten Lieder,
Die wir in der Thüre sangen,
Wenn die Tropfen draußen klangen!

Möchte ihnen wieder lauschen,
Ihrem süßen, feuchten Rauschen,
Meine Seele sanft bethauen
Mit [dem frommen Kindergrauen]5.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   A. Wallnöfer 

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Deutsche Lyrik seit Goethe's Tode. Ausgewählt von Maximilian Bern, Neue Ausgabe, Vierzehnte, verbesserte Auflage, Leipzig, Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam, 1886, pages 189-190. Modern spelling would change "thauten" to "tauten", "athmend" to "atmend", "Himmelsthau" to "Himmelstau", "Thüre" to "Türe", etc.

1 Wallnöfer: "all' die Bilder"
2 Wallnöfer: "sich uns're"
3 Wallnöfer: "schauten"
4 Wallnöfer: "all' die"
5 Wallnöfer: "den frommen Kinderaugen"

Text Authorship:

  • by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899), "Regenlied", first published 1854 [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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Regenlied", op. 59 (Acht Lieder und Gesänge) no. 3 (1873), published 1880 [ low voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Henri Marteau (1874 - 1934), "Regenlied", op. 28 (Acht Gesänge) no. 6, published 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Regenlied", op. 97 (Duette für hohe und tiefe stimmen) no. 5 [ vocal duet with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó de la pluja", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Regenlied", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Rain Song", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant de pluie", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "Lied de la lluvia", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 159

Rain Song
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Pour, rain, pour down,
Awaken again in me those dreams
That I dreamt in childhood,
When the wetness foamed in the sand!

When the dull summer sultriness
Struggled languidly against the fresh coolness,
And the shiny leaves dripped with dew,
And the crops were dyed a deeper blue.

What bliss to stand in the downpour
With naked feet,
To roam in the grass
And seize the foam in one's hands!

Or with one's hot cheeks
To catch the cold drops;
And to the newly-awakened fragrances
To open one's childlike bosom!

Like the flower's chalices that dripped there,
The soul stood breathing openly,
Like the flowers, drunk with fragrance,
Submerged in the dew of the Heavens.

Every drop cooled with a tremor
Deep down to the heart's very beating,
And Creation's holy weaving
Pierced into one's hidden life.

Pour, rain, pour down,
Awaken the old songs
That we used to sing in the doorway
When the raindrops pattered outside!

I would like to listen to them again --
To their sweet, damp rushing --
To gently bedew my soul
With the devout terror I felt as a child.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899), "Regenlied", first published 1854
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 185

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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