The purple bird of the heart | The purple bird of the heart flies through the night

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by Hildegard Jone (1891 - 1963)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Des Herzens Purpurvogel

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Des Herzens Purpurvogel fliegt durch die Nacht.
Der Augen Falter, die im Hellen gaukeln,
sind ihm voraus, wenn sie im Tage schaukeln.
Und doch ist er's, der sie ans Ziel gebracht.
Sie ruhen oft,
die bald sich neu erheben zu neuem Flug.
Doch rastet endlich er am Ast des Todes,
müd' und flügelschwer,
dann müssen sie zum letzten Blick verbeben.

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Text Authorship:

by Hildegard Jone (1891 - 1963) [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 Anton von Webern (1883 - 1945), "Des Herzens Purpurvogel", op. 25 no. 2 (1934), from Die Freunde, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The purple bird of the heart", copyright ©

Researcher for this page: Hubert Schmid

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 60

The purple bird of the heart

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 The purple bird of the heart flies through the night.
 The butterflies of the eyes flutter in the brightness
 ahead of it, when they swing about in the daylight.
 And yet it is [the purple bird] that brings them to the goal.
 They rest often
 but soon lift themselves up fresh for a new flight.
 But when finally [the purple bird] rests upon a bough of Death,
 weary and with heavy wings,
 then they must take their last look around before they dyingly tremble.

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 Hildegard Jone (1891 - 1963)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 85