Comfort for the eyes | Oh gladly let it happen

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by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Augentrost

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

O laß es gern geschehen,
Daß dir dein Auge blind!
Was willst du dennoch sehen,
Altes, betrognes Kind?

Willst du den Lenz erzwingen
Durch buntgefärbtes Glas?
Soll dir noch Blumen bringen
Das längst verwelkte Gras?

Die lichten Regenbogen,
Die Schlösser in der Luft,
Alter! sind fortgezogen,
Du siehst nur eis'gen Duft.

Lenz, Sommer sind geschieden,
Nur Winter siehest du.
Alter! o schließ in Frieden
Die müden Augen zu.

Confirmed with Kerners Werke, Zweiter Teil, Gedichte, ed. Raimund Pissin, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., 1914, page 215.

Text Authorship:

by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Augentrost", appears in Gedichte, in Die lyrischen Gedichte [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by Christian Immo Schneider (b. 1935), "Augentrost", 1984, unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Comfort for the eyes", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Consolation des yeux", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 68

Comfort for the eyes

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Oh gladly let it happen
That your eyes go blind!
What do you still wish to see,
You old, deceived child?

Do you wish to force springtime to appear
By [looking through] coloured glass?
Is the grass, long wilted,
Still to bring you flowers?

The bright rainbows,
The castles in the air,
Old man! have passed away,
You would see only icy scent.

Spring, summer have gone,
You would see only winter.
Old man! oh close in peace
Your tired eyes.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Augentrost", appears in Gedichte, in Die lyrischen Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2013-09-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 81