Forested night | Wondrously cool, forested night

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by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914)

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall

Waldesnacht, du wunderkühle

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG ENG ENG FRE

Waldesnacht, du [wunderkühle]¹, 
Die ich tausend Male grüß',
Nach dem lauten Weltgewühle,
O wie ist dein Rauschen süß!
Träumerisch die müden Glieder
Berg' ich weich [ins]² Moos,
Und mir ist, als würd' ich wieder
All der irren Qualen los.

Fernes Flötenlied, vertöne,
Das ein weites Sehnen rührt,
Die Gedanken in die schöne,
Ach! mißgönnte Ferne führt.
Laß die Waldesnacht mich wiegen,
Stillen jede Pein!
Und ein seliges Genügen
Saug' ich mit den Düften ein.

In den heimlich engen Kreisen,
Wird dir wohl, du wildes Herz,
Und ein Friede schwebt mit leisen
Flügelschlägen niederwärts.
Singet, holde [Vögellieder]³,
Mich in Schlummer sacht!
Irre Qualen, löst euch wieder;
Wildes Herz, nun gute Nacht!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Kahn

R. Kahn sets stanzas 1, 3

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with [Paul Heyse], Der Jungbrunnen: Neue Märchen von einem fahrenden Schüler, Berlin: Verlag von Alexander Duncker, Königl. Hofbuchhändler, 1850, page 35.

¹ Frommer: "wundersüsse"; further changes may exist not shown above.
² Kahn: "in"
³ Kahn: "Vogellieder"

Text Authorship:

by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Der Jungbrunnen: Neue Märchen von einem fahrenden Schüler, in Glückspilzchen, Chapter 3, first published 1850 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Wenzel Theodor Bradsky (1833 - 1881), "Im Walde", op. 42 (Vier zweistimmige Lieder mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1873 [ 2-part chorus or vocal duet and piano ], Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Waldesnacht", op. 62 (Sieben Lieder) no. 3 (1874) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Elisabeth Brauer , "Im Walde", op. 1 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Emmerich (1836 - 1891), "Waldesnacht", op. 38 (6 Lieder) no. 2, published 1872 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Frommer (1868 - 1914), "Waldesnacht", published 1894 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin, Weinholtz [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Fuchs (1847 - 1927), "Im Walde", op. 64 (Acht Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 1, published 1900 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Robitschek [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Im Walde", op. 22 no. 4 (1864), published 1864 [ medium voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gesänge von Paul Heyse, no. 4, Leipzig, Peters [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951), no title, op. 46 no. 3 (1906), published 1906, stanzas 1,3 [ voice and piano trio ], from Sieben Lieder mit Klaviertrio nach Paul Heyses "Jungbrunnen", no. 3, Berlin: Verlag von Albert Stahl [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (1863 - 1932), "Waldesnacht", published 1895 [ men's chorus a cappella ], from Drei Lieder für Männerchor, no. 3, Leipzig, Schuberth & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Hermann Krigar (1819 - 1880), "Waldesnacht", published 1873 [ mixed chorus ], Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Pfitzner (1858 - ?), "Waldesfrieden", op. 13 (Drei Männerchöre) no. 1, published 1899 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Hug & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Christoph Schnyder (1826 - 1909), "Im Walde", published 1895 [ men's chorus a cappella ], from Fünf Lieder für Männerchor, no. 2, Leipzig, Hug & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), "Waldesnacht", 1894-1903, from 7 frühe Lieder, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Felix Semon, M. D. (1849 - 1921), "Waldesfrieden", op. 8 (Zwölf Lieder aus dem "Jungbrunnen" v. P. Heyse) no. 10, published 1883 [ medium voice or low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by J. H. W. Werner , "Im Walde", published 1883 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, Krefeld, Schuckert [sung text not yet checked]
by Emma Wooge (1857 - 1935), "Im Walde", op. 1 (Vier Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1896 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin: Paez [sung text not yet checked]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 115

Forested night

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Wondrously cool, forested night,
that I a thousand times have greeted,
After the loud ferment of the world, 
O, how sweet is your rustling!
Dreamily, my weary limbs
I shelter in the yielding moss,
And for me, it is as if I were again
Free of all senseless distress.

The song of a distant flute, sounding,
Stirs a vast longing;
My thoughts wander into the beautiful,
Ah, tantalizing distance!
May this forested night cradle me, 
Soothing every pain;
And blissful fulfillment
I inhale along with its fragrances.

Within this secluded, intimate sphere, 
are boons for you, my frenzied heart,
And serenity floats, on the delicate
flutter of wings, downward.
Sing me, lovely bird songs,
gently to my rest!
Senseless anxieties, once more be gone;
Wild heart, now good night!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2011 by Michael P Rosewall, (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 Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Der Jungbrunnen: Neue Märchen von einem fahrenden Schüler, in Glückspilzchen, Chapter 3, first published 1850
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-07
Line count: 24
Word count: 129