Hymn of love | Happy was the day you were born

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by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Liebeshymnus

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE JPN

Heil jenem Tag, der dich geboren,
heil ihm, da ich zuerst dich sah!
In deiner Augen Glanz verloren
steh' ich, ein sel'ger Träumer, da.

Mir scheint der Himmel aufzugehn,
den ich von ferne nur geahnt,
und eine Sonne darf ich sehn,
daran die Sehnsucht nur gemahnt.

Wie schön mein Bild in diesem Blicke!
In diesem Blick mein Glück wie groß!
Und flehend ruf' ich zum Geschicke:
O weile, weile, wandellos!

Text Authorship:

by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929) [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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Liebeshymnus", op. 32 (Fünf Lieder) no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Himne a l’amor", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Liefdeshymne", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Hymn of love", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Hymne d'amour", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "愛の讃歌", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70

Hymn of love

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 Happy was the day you were born -
 happy was the day I first saw you!
 Lost in the radiance of your eyes,
 I stand, a blissful dreamer.
 
 Heaven seems to open to me,
 yet I only sense it from afar,
 and I am permitted to gaze upon the sun,
 something my yearning only ever imagined.
 
 How wonderful it is to see my reflection in your eyes!
 In your gaze, how great is my happiness!
 And I call to my fate imploringly:
 "Oh tarry, remain unchanging!"

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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 86