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Augen, meine lieben Fensterlein, Gebt mir schon so lange [holden]1 Schein, Lasset freundlich Bild um Bild herein: Einmal werdet ihr verdunkelt sein! Fallen einst die müden Lider zu, Löscht ihr aus, dann hat die Seele Ruh'; Tastend streift sie ab die Wanderschuh', Legt sich auch in ihre finstre Truh'. [Noch]2 zwei Fünklein sieht sie glimmend stehn Wie zwei Sternlein, innerlich zu sehn, Bis sie schwanken [und dann auch vergehn]3 Wie von eines Falters Flügelwehn. Doch noch wandl' ich auf dem Abendfeld, Nur dem sinkenden Gestirn gesellt: Trinkt, o Augen, was die Wimper hält, Von dem goldnen Überfluß der Welt!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gesammelte Gedichte von Gottfried Keller, Erster Band, J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, Stuttgart und Berlin, 1902, page 43.
1 Thuille: "hellen"2 Thuille: "Nur"
3 Marx: "und vergehn"
Text Authorship:
- by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), "Abendlied" [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 Hans Hermann (1870 - 1931), "Abendlied", published 1899 [ soprano or tenor and Mason-Hamlin harmonium ], from [Sechs] Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Mason und Hamlin-Harmonium, no. 1, Berlin, Koeppen. (Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel.) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilhelm Kempff (1895 - 1991), "Abendlied", op. 7 no. 1 (1917) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fritz Kögel , "Abendlied", op. 7 (Sechs Gedichte von Gottfried Keller für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich "Fritz" Wolfgang Lessauer (1874 - 1937), "Augen, meine lieben Fensterlein", op. 35 (4 Gedichte von Gottfried Keller) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Abendlied" [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Abendlied", op. 55 no. 12 (1941-3) [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from Unter Sternen: Lieder und Gesänge nach Gedichten von Gottfried Keller, no. 12, Wien: Universal Edition [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bernhard Ernst Scholz (1835 - 1916), "Abendlied", op. 65 no. 3, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Frankfurt a/M., Firnberg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Suter (1870 - 1926), "Abendlied", op. 8a [ low voice, violin, cello, and organ ; or high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ludwig Wilhelm Andreas Maria Thuille (1861 - 1907), "Abendlied", op. 32 (Drei Lieder für tiefe Singstimme) no. 3, published 1905 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Trunk (1879 - 1968), "Augen, meine lieben Fensterlein", op. 48 (Sechs Lieder auf Gedichte von Gottfried Keller) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Carl Theodor) Oskar Ulmer (1883 - 1966), "Abendlied", op. 42 (Drei Abendlieder) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Evening song", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant du soir", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Caroline Diehl
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 102
My eyes, my dear little windows, for a long time now you have given me lovely light, kindly allowing in one image after another: yet one day you will grow dark! When someday your weary lids fall closed, you will be extinguished and my soul will have its rest; tentatively, it will strip off its wanderer's shoes, and lay itself also in its dark coffin. But it will still see two small sparks gleaming there like two little stars, seen only inwardly, until they weaken and then also die out as if blown by the wings of a butterfly. But I still wander in the evening fields, accompanied only by fading stars: drink, o eyes, as much as your lashes can hold, of the golden opulence of the world!
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 ArchiveFor 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 Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), "Abendlied"
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 130