The migrants' farewell song | Oh how lovely were the woods and fields!

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

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.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

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

by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874)

Translation © by Siân Goldthorpe, Christian Stein

Wie war so schön doch Wald und Feld!

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE

Wie war so schön doch Wald und Feld!
Wie ist so traurig jetzt die Welt!
Hin ist die schöne Sommerzeit,
Und nach der Freude kam das Leid.

Wir wußten nichts von Ungemach,
Wir saßen unterm Laubesdach
Vergnügt und froh beim Sonnenschein,
Und sangen in die Welt hinein.

Wir armen Vöglein trauern sehr:
Wir haben keine Heimat mehr,
Wir müssen jetzt von hinnen fliehn
Und in die weite Fremde ziehn.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Abschiedslied der Zugvogel", appears in Kinderlieder [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 Ludwig Erk (1807 - 1883), "Abschied der Zugvögel", published 1873 [ voice and piano ], from Alte und neue Kinderlieder von Hoffmann von Fallersleben, no. 23 [sung text not yet checked]
by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Abschiedslied der Zugvögel", op. 63 (Sechs Duette) no. 2 [ duet ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Siân Goldthorpe) (Christian Stein) , "The migrants' farewell song", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant d'adieu des oiseaux migrateurs", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Siân Goldthorpe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 69

The migrants' farewell song

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Oh how lovely were the woods and fields!
How sad the world is now!
The beautiful summertime is gone,
And after joy came sorrow.

We knew nothing of pain,
We sat under the leafy canopy
Content and joyful in the sunshine,
And sang out into the world.

We poor birds mourn so,
We no longer have a home,
We must now flee from here,
Into the wide unknown.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Siân Goldthorpe and Christian Stein, (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 August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Abschiedslied der Zugvogel", appears in Kinderlieder
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68