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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 Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Wär' ich nie aus euch gegangen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA
Wär' ich nie aus euch gegangen,
Wälder, hehr und wunderbar!
Hieltet liebend mich umfangen
Doch so [lange, lange]1 Jahr'.

Wo in euren Dämmerungen
[Vogelsang]2 und Silberquell,
Ist auch manches Lied entsprungen
Meinem Busen, frisch und hell.

[Euer]3 Wogen, [euer]3 [Halle]4,
Euer Säuseln nimmer müd',
Eure Melodien alle
Weckten in der Brust das Lied.

Hier in diesen weiten Triften
Ist mir alles öd' und stumm,
Und ich schau' in blauen Lüften
Mich nach Wolkenbildern um.

[In den Busen eingezwinget]5,
Regt sich selten nur das Lied;
[Wie der Vogel halb nur singet]6,
Den von Baum und [Bach]7 man schied.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   M. Birn •   F. Schaffgotsch •   R. Schumann 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Schaffgotsch: "manche, manche"
2 Schaffgotsch: "Vogel singt"
3 Schaffgotsch: "Eure"
4 Schumann: "Hallen"
5 Schumann: "Wenn ihr's in den Busen zwinget"; Birn, Schaffgotsch: "In dem Busen eingezwänget"
6 Birn: "Wie nur halb der Vogel singet"
7 Schumann: "Blatt"

Text Authorship:

  • by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend" [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 Max Birn , "Sehnsucht nach dem Walde", op. 10 (Lebenslust. Vier Duette) no. 1 [ duet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Franz, Graf von Schaffgotsch , "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend" [ bass and piano ], from Drei Lieder für eine Baßstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 3, Wien: Adolf Bösendorfer [no year] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend", op. 35 no. 5 (1840), published 1841 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner, no. 5, Leipzig, Klemm [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Enyorança del bosc", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Heimwee naar het woudgebied", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Longing for the woodlands", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Nostalgia di andare per i boschi", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 108

Longing for the woodlands
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
 Would that I had never left you,
 woodlands, lofty and wondrous!
 You held me lovingly in your embrace
 for many a long, long year.
 
 Where, in your twilit spots,
 there was birdsong and silver streams,
 there also sprang up many songs
 from my bosom, fresh and bright.
 
 Your surging, your echoes,
 your never-tiring whispering,
 your melodies all
 awoke song in my breast.
 
 Here in these wide meadows
 everything is desolate and mute to me,
 and I gaze up into the blue sky,
 looking for shapes in the clouds.
 
 While you compelled song from my breast,
 it seldom stirs now,
 just as the bird sings only a half song
 when parted from tree and leaf.

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.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 115

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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