Song Translations

    Gruss (Greeting) – Mendelssohn
    Wherever I walk and gaze,
    Through valley, wood and field,
    From mountaintop to meadow,
    I, lovely gracious lady,
    Greet you a thousand times.

    I seek out in my garden
    Many fine and lovely flowers,
    Weaving many garlands,
    Binding a thousand thoughts
    And greetings with them too.

    I cannot give a garland
    To her, so high and fine,
    Which means that all must perish,
    Only love without compare
    Stays in the heart forever.

     Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman's Life and Love) – Schumann

    Seit ich ihn Gesehen

    Since first seeing him,
    I think I am blind,
    Wherever I look,
    Him only I see;

    As in a waking dream
    His image hovers before me,
    Rising out of deepest darkness
    Ever more brightly.

    All else is dark and pale
    Around me,
    My sister's games
    I no more long to share,
    I would rather weep
    Quietly in my room;
    Since first seeing him,
    I think I am blind.


    Er, der Herrlichste von allen

    He, the most wonderful of all,
    How gentle and loving he is!
    Sweet lips, bright eyes,
    A clear mind and firm resolve.

    Just as there in the deep-blue distance
    That star gleams bright and brilliant,
    So does he shine in my sky,
    Bright and brilliant, distant and sublime.

    Wander, wander on your way,
    Just to gaze on your radiance,
    Just to gaze on in humility,
    To be but blissfl and sad!

    Do not heed my silent prayer,
    Uttered for your happiness alone,
    You shall never know me, lowly as I am,
    You noble star of splendour!

    Only the worthiest woman of all
    May your choice elate,
    And I shall bless that exalted one
    Many thousands of times.

    Then shall I rejoice and weep,
    Blissful, blissful shall I be.
    Even if my heart should break,
    Break, O heart, what does it matter?


    Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben

    I cannot grasp it, believe it,
    A dream has beguiled me;
    How, from all women, could he
    Have exalted and favoured poor me?

    He said, I thought,
    'I am yours forever',
    I was, I thought, still dreaming,
    After all, it can never be.

    O let me, dreaming die,
    Cradled on his breat;
    Let me savour blissful death
    In tears of endless joy.


    Du Ring au meinem Finger

    You ring on my finger,
    My golden little ring,
    I press you devoutly to my lips,
    To my heart.
    I had finished dreaming
    Childhood's peaceful dream,
    I found myself alone, forlorn
    In boundless desolation.

    You ring on my finger,
    You first taught me,
    Opened my eyes
    To life's deep eternal worth.
    I shall serve him, live for him,
    Belong to him wholly,
    Yield to him and find
    Myself transfigured in his light.

    You ring on my finger,
    My golden little ring,
    I press you devoutly to my lips,
    To my heart.


    Helft mir, ihr Schwestern

    Help me, my sisters,
    With my bridal attire,
    Serve me today in my joy,
    Busily braid
    About my brow
    The wreath of blossoming myrtle.
    When with contentment
    And joy in my heart
    I lay in my beloved's arms,
    He still called,
    With longing heart,
    Impatiently for this day.

    Help me, my sisters,
    Help me banish
    A foolish fearfulness;
    So that I with bright eyes
    May receive him,
    The source of all my joy.
    Have you, my love
    Really entered my life,
    Do you, O sun, give me your glow?
    Let me in reverence,
    Let me in humility
    Bow before my lord.

    Scatter flowers, O sisters,
    Scatter flowers before him,
    Bring him budding roses.
    But you, sisters
    I greet with sadness,
    As I joyfully take leave of you.



    Süsser Freund, du blickest

    Sweet friend, you look
    At me in wonder,
    You cannot understand
    How I can weep:
    Let the unfamiliar beauty
    Of these moist pearls
    Tremble joyfully bright
    In my eyes!

    How anxious my heart is,
    How full of bliss!
    If only I knew
    How to say it in words;
    Come and hide your face
    Here against my breat,
    For me to whisper you
    All my joy.

    Do you now understand the tears
    That I can weep,
    Should you not see them,
    Beloved husband?
    Stay by my heart,
    Feel how it beats,
    That I may press you
    Closer and closer.

    Here by my bed
    There is room for the cradle,
    Silently hiding
    My blissful dream;
    The morning shall come
    When the dream awakens,
    And your likeness
    Laughs up at me.
    An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust

    On my heart, at my breast,
    You my delight, my joy!
    Happiness is love, love is happiness,
    I've always said and say so still.

    I thought myself rapturous,
    But now am delirious with joy,
    Only she who suckles, only she who loves
    The child that she nourishes;

    Only a mother knows
    What it means to love and be happy.
    Ah, how I pity the man
    Who cannot feel a mother's bliss!

    You dear, dear angel, you,
    You look at me and you smile!
    On my heart, at my breast,
    You my delight, my joy!


    Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan

    Now you have caused me my first pain,
    But it struck hard,
    you sleep, you harsh and pitiless man,
    The sleep of death.
    The deserted one stares ahead,
    The world is void.

    I have loved and I have lived,
    And now my life is done.
    Silently I withdraw into myself,
    The veil falls,
    There I have you and my lost happiness,
    You, my world!

    Abschiedslied der Zugvögel (Farewell Song of the Migrating Birds) – Mendelssohn

    How beautiful were forest and field!
    How sad the world is now!
    Beautiful summertime has gone,
    And after joy sorrow has come.
    We knew nothing of discomfort,
    Beneath a leafy canopy we sat
    Content and happy in the sun
    And sang out into the world.

    We poor birds are now sad sad,
    We no longer have a homeland,
    We must now fly far away
    Into distant lands.
     
    Pur ti Miro, Pur ti godo –   Monteverdi

    I gaze upon you, I desire you,
    I embrace you, I enchain you;
    no more grieving, no more dying,
    O my life, o my beloved.

    I am yours, yours am I,
    My hope, tell it, tell.
    You are truly my idol,
    Yes, my love, yes, my heart, my life, yes.


    Silent Noon  –   Vaughan Williams

    Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass,–
    The finger-points look through like rosy blooms:
    Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms
    'Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.

    All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,
    Are golden kingcup fields with silver edge
    Where cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn hedge.
    'Tis visible silence, still as the hour glass.

    Deep in the sunsearched growth the dragon-fly
    Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky. –
    So this winged hour is dropt to us from above.
    Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower,
    This close-companioned inarticulate hour
    When twofold silence was the song of love.