Translations

Liederkreis, Op. 39 “Song cycle”, op. 39

1. In der Fremde 1. In a Distant Land

Aus der Heimat hinter den Blitzen rot From my homeland beyond the red flashes,
Da kommen die Wolken her, That’s where the clouds come from,
Aber Vater und Mutter sind lange tot, But my father and mother are long dead,
Es kennt mich dort keiner mehr. And no one knows me there now.

Wie bald, ach wie bald kommt die stille Zeit, How soon, oh, how soon the quiet time will come,
Da ruhe ich auch, und über mir Then I will rest, too, and over me
Rauscht die schöne Waldeinsamkeit, Will murmur the lovely forest solitude,
Und keiner kennt mich mehr hier. And no one here will know me either.

2. Intermezzo 2. Intermezzo

Dein Bildnis wunderselig Your wondrous lovely image

Hab ich im Herzensgrund, I keep in the depths of my heart,
Das sieht so frisch und fröhlich It gazes so fresh and cheerfully
Mich an zu jeder Stund. At me always.

Mein Herz still in sich singet My heart sings to itself quietly

Ein altes schönes Lied, A familiar fair song,
Das in die Luft sich schwinget That rises into the air
Und zu dir eilig zieht. And flies quickly to you.

3. Waldesgespräch 3. Forest Conversation

Es ist schon spät, es ist schon kalt, It’s already late, it’s already cold,
Was reitest du einsam durch den Wald, Why are you riding alone through the forest,
Der Wald ist lang, du bist allein, The forest is long, you are alone,
Du schöne Braut! Ich führ dich heim You lovely maid, I’ll see you home!

!– “Gross ist der Männer Trug und List, “The guile and trickery of men is vast,
Vor Schmerz mein Herz gebrochen ist, My heart is broken by grief,
Wohl irrt das Waldhorn her und hin, The hunting horn sounds here and there,
O flieh! Du weisst nicht wer ich bin.” Oh flee! You don’t know who I am.”

– So reich geschmückt ist Ross und Weib, So richly adorned are horse and woman,
So wunderschön das junge Leib, So wondrous fair the young figure,
Jetzt kenn ich dich– Gott steh mir bei! Now I know you—God help me!
Du bist die Hexe Lorelei. You are the sorceress Lorelei.
– “Du kennst mich wohl– vom hohen Stein “You know me well—from the high cliff
Schaut still mein Schloss tief in den Rhein. My castle looks silently deep into the Rhine.
Es ist schon spät, es ist schon kalt, It’s already late, it’s already cold,
Kommst nimmermehr aus diesem Wald.” You’ll never escape from this forest.”

4. Die Stille 4. Silence

Es weiss und rät es doch keiner, No one knows or can guess

Wie mir so wohl ist, so wohl! How good I feel, how good!
Ach, wüsst es nur einer, nur einer, Oh, if only one knew it, just one,
Kein Mensch es sonst wissen soll. No other person needs know.

So still ist’s nicht draussen im Schnee, It’s not so quiet outside in the snow,
So stumm und verschwiegen sind Nor so silent and secret
Die Sterne nicht in der Höh, Are the stars in the sky
Als meine Gedanken sind. As my thoughts are.

Ich wünscht, ich wär ein Vöglein I wish I were a little bird
Und zöge über das Meer, And could fly over the sea
Wohl über das Meer und weiter, Right over the sea and further
Bis dass ich im Himmel wär! Until I was in heaven!

5. Mondnacht 5. Moonlit Night

Es war, als hätt der Himmel It was as if the sky

Die Erde still geküsst, Had silently kissed the earth,
Dass sie im Blütenschimmer So that she, in the blossoms’ radiance,
Von ihm nun träumen müsst. Must now only dream of him.

Die Luft ging durch die Felder, The breeze passed through the fields,
Die Ähren wogten sacht, The grain swayed gently
Es rauschten leis die Wälder, The woods murmured quietly,
So sternklar war die Nacht. The night was so starry clear.

Und meine Seele spannte And my soul spread

Weit ihre Flügel aus, Its wings out widely,
Flog durch die stillen Lande, Flew through the silent lands
Als flöge sie nach Haus. As if it flew toward home.

6. Schöne Fremde 6. Lovely Distant Land

Es rauschen die Wipfel und schauern, The treetops rustle and tremble
Als machten zu dieser Stund As if at this hour
Um die halbversunkenen Mauern Around the half-sunken wall
Die alten Götter die Rund. The old gods danced.
Hier hinter den Myrtenbäumen Here behind the myrtle trees
In heimlich dämmernder Pracht, In secret, twilit splendor,
Was sprichst du wirr wie in Träumen Why do you speak wildly, as in dreams,
Zu mir, phantastische Nacht? To me, fantastic night?

Es funkeln auf mich alle Sterne All the stars sparkle down on me
Mit glühendem Liebesblick, With the radiant glance of love,
Es redet trunken die Ferne The distant lands speak ecstatically
Wie von künftigem, grossem Glück. Of a future, great happiness.

7. Auf einer Burg 7. In a Fortress

Eingeschlafen auf der Lauer Fallen asleep on his watch

Oben ist der alte Ritter; Up there is the old knight;
Drüber gehen Regenschauer, Rain showers pass by
Und der Wald rauscht durch das Gitter, And the forest murmurs through the bars.

Eingewachsen Bart und Haare Overgrown are beard and hair

Und versteinert Brust und Krause, Turned to stone are coat and collar,
Sitzt er viele hundert Jahre He has been sitting many hundred years
Oben in der stillen Klause. Up there in his silent refuge.

Draussen ist es still und friedlich, Outside it’s quiet and peaceful,
Alle sind ins Tal gezogen, Everyone has gone to the valley,
Waldesvögel einsam singen Forest birds sing solitary
In den leeren Fensterbogen. In the empty window arches.

Eine Hochzeit fährt da unten A bridal party rides down below

Auf dem Rhein im Sonnenscheine, Upon the Rhine in sunshine,
Musikanten spielen munter, Musicians play cheerfully
Und die schöne Braut, sie weinet. And the lovely bride weeps.

8. In der Fremde 8. In a Distant Land

Ich hör’ die Bächlein rauschen, I hear the streams rushing

Im Walde her und hin. In the forest here and there.
Im Walde, in dem Rauschen, In the forest, in the rushing,
Ich weiss nicht, wo ich bin. I don’t know where I am.

Die Nachtigallen schlagen The nightingales sing

Hier in der Einsamkeit, Here in seclusion,
Als wollten sie was sagen As if they wanted to say something
Von der alten, schönen Zeit. About the lovely times past.

Die Mondeschimmer fliegen, The rays of the moon are flying

Als säh ich unter mir As if I saw below
Das Schloss im Tale liegen, The mansion in the valley,
Und ist doch so weit von hier! But it’s so far from here!

Als müsste in dem Garten, As if in the garden,

Voll Rosen weiss und rot, Full of white and red roses,
Meine Liebste auf mich warten, My beloved waits for me,
Und ist doch so lange tot. Who has been dead so long.

9. Wehmut 9. Melancholy

Ich kann wohl manchmal singen, I can still sing sometimes

Als ob ich fröhlich sei, As if I were happy,
Doch heimlich Tränen dringen, But secretly tears well up
Da wird das Herz mir frei. And I begin to weep.

Es lassen Nachtigallen, Nightingales pour forth,

Spielt draussen Frühlingsluft, When spring breezes play outside,
Der Sehnsucht Lied erschallen Their echoing song of longing,
Aus ihres Kerkers Gruft. From the depths of their prisons.

Da lauschen alle Herzen, Then all hearts listen,

Und alles ist erfreut, And all are delighted,
Doch keiner fühlt die Schmerzen, But no one feels the pains,
Im Lied das tiefe Leid. The deep sorrow in the song.

10. Zwielicht 10. Twilight

Dämmrung will die Flügel spreiten, Darkness is spreading its wings,

Schaurig rühren sich die Bäume, The trees murmur ominously,
Wolken ziehn wie schwere Träume Clouds gather like oppressive dreams
-- Was will dieses Graun bedeuten? — What does this dread mean?

Hast ein Reh du lieb vor andern, If you have a favorite roe-deer,
Lass es nicht alleine grasen, Don’t let it graze alone,
Jäger ziehn im Wald und blasen, Hunters ride in the forest and blow,
Stimmen hin und wieder wandern. Sounding their horns and passing on.

Hast du einen Freund hieneiden, If you have a friend on earth,

Trau ihm nicht zu dieser Stunde, Don’t trust him at this hour,
Freundlich wohl mit Aug’ und Munde, Friendly perhaps in glance and voice,
Sinnt er Krieg im tück’schen Frieden. He’s planning war in deceptive peace.

Was heut gehet müde unter, What perishes today in weariness,

Hebt sich morgen neu geboren. will arise tomorrow newly born.
Manches geht in Nacht verloren Things go astray in the night
-- Hüte dich, sei wach und munter!
11. Im Walde
Es zog eine Hochzeit den Berg entlang,
Ich hörte die Vögel schlagen,
Da blitzten viel Reiter, das Waldhorn klang,
Das war ein lustiges Jagen!
Und eh ich’s gedacht, war alles verhallt,
Die Nacht bedecket die Runde,
Nur von den Bergen noch rauschet der Wald
Und mich schauert’s im Herzensgrunde.
12. Frühlingsnacht
Über Garten durch die Lüfte
Hört ich Wandervögel ziehn,
Was bedeutet Frühlingsdufte,
Unten fängt’s schon an zu blüh’n.
Jauchzen möcht ich, möchte weinen,
Und mir’s doch, als könnt’s nicht sein!
Alte Wunder wieder scheinen
Mit dem Mondesglanz herein.
Und der Mond, die Sterne sagen’s,
Und im Traume rauscht’s der Hain,
Und die Nachtigallen schlagen’s:
Sie ist deine, sie ist dein!
Deità Silvane
1. I Fauni
S'odono al monte i saltellanti rivi
Murmureggiare per le forre astruse,
S'odono al bosco gemer cornamuse
Con garrito di pifferi giulivi.
E i fauni in corsa per dumeti e clivi,
Erti le corna sulle fronti ottuse,
Bevono per lor nari camuse
Filtri sottili e zeffiri lascivi.
E, mentre in fondo al gran coro alberato
Piange d'amore per la vita bella
La sampogna dell'arcade pastore,
— Be careful, stay alert and watchful!
11. In the Forest
A wedding party passed along the mountain,
I heard the birds singing,
Many riders flashed, the forest horn sounded,
It was a merry hunt!
And before I knew it, everything was silent,
Night covered the horizon,
Only the forest still rustled on the mountains,
And I shuddered in the depths of my heart.
12. Spring Night
Over the garden in the air
I heard migrating birds passing,
That means spring is in the air
Below, it has already started to bloom.
I’d like to rejoice, I’d like to weep,
And it seems it couldn’t be true!
Old wonders appear again
Out in the moonlight.
And the moon, the stars say it,
And the grove murmurs it in dreams,
And the nightingales sing it:
She is yours, she is yours!
“Woodland Deities”
1. The Fauns
One hears in the hills the bubbling brooks
Murmuring through the dark ravines,
One hears in the woods the groan of the bagpipes
With the chirp of merry fifes.
And the fauns racing over hills and through thickets,
Their horns erect above their broad foreheads,
Drink through their blunt, upturned nostrils
Subtle potions and lascivious winds.
And, while beneath the great choir of trees,
They weep, for love of the beautiful life:
The bagpipes of the Arcadian shepherd.
Contenta e paurosa dell'agguato,
Fugge ogni ninfa più che fiera snella,
Ardendo in bocca come ardente fiore.
2. Musica in Horto
Uno squillo di cròtali clangenti
Rompe in ritmo il silenzio dei roseti,
Mentre in fondo agli aulenti orti segreti
Gorgheggia un flauto liquidi lamenti.
La melodia, con tintinnio d'argenti,
Par che a vicenda s'attristi e s'allieti,
Ora luce di tremiti inquieti,
Or diffondendo lunghe ombre dolenti:
Cròtali arguti e canne variotocche!,
Una gioia di cantici inespressi
Per voi par che dai chiusi orti rampolli,
E in sommo dei rosai, che cingon molli
Ghirlande al cuor degli intimi recessi,
S'apron le rose come molli bocche!
3. Egle
Frondeggia il bosco d'uberi verzure,
Volgendo i rii zaffiro e margherita:
Per gli archi verdi un'anima romita
Cinge pallidi fuochi a ridde oscure.
E in te ristretta con le mani pure
Come le pure fonti della vita,
Di sole e d'ombre mobili vestita
Tu danzi, Egle, con languide misure.
E a te candida e bionda tra li ninfe,
D'ilari ambagi descrivendo il verde,
Sotto i segreti ombracoli del verde,
Ove la più inquïeta ombra s'attrista,
Perle squillanti e liquido ametista
Volge la gioia roca delle linfe.
4. Acqua
Acqua, e tu ancora sul tuo flauto lene
Intonami un tuo canto variolungo,
Di cui le note abbian l'odor del fungo,
Del musco e dell'esiguo capelvenere,
Sì che per tutte le sottili vene,
Onde irrighi la fresca solitudine,
Happy and fearful of the impending ambush,
The nymphs flee, faster than wild gazelles,
Their ardent lips like blazing flowers!
2. Garden Music
A blast of finger-cymbals clashing rhythmically
Punctuates the silence of the rose gardens,
While at the end of fragrant, secret orchards
A flute pours out its liquid lamentation.
The melody, with silver cymbal-hissing
Shifts between saddening and becoming joyful;
Now shining with flickering, flaring light,
Now casting long sorrowful shadows:
Ringing finger-cymbals and many-sounding pipes!
A joy of songs unexpressed
for you gushes forth from the orchards,
And at the top of the rosebushes, that weave
garlands at the heart of the intimate nooks,
The roses open like soft mouths!
3. Aegle
The forest is heavy with leaves and fruit,
The brooks are shimmering in daisy and sapphire:
Under the green arches a lonely soul
Circles pale flames in hidden dances.
And with quiet intensity and hands as pure
As the pure fountains of life itself,
Veiled in clothes of sun and shadow
You dance, Aegle, with spiritless steps.
And toward you, white and blonde among the nymphs,
Merrily dancing like fluttering leaves,
Under the secret shadows of the leaves,
Where the most restless spirit saddens,
In translucent pearl and liquid amethyst
Flows the raw rapture of the amber.
4. Water
Water, once again your mellow flute
Plays to me your varying song,
Whose notes seem like the smell of mushrooms,
Of moss and of sleek, silken maiden-hair,
So that along all the tiny streams
That refresh the lonely places,
Il tuo riscintillio rida e sublùdii
Al gemmar delle musiche serene.
Acqua, e, lungh'essi i calami volubili
Movendo in gioco le cerulee dita,
Avvicenda più lunghe ombre alle luci,
Tu che con modi labii deduci
Sulla mia fronte intenta e sulla vita
Del verde fuggitive ombre di nubi.
5. Crepuscolo
Nell'orto abbandonato ora l'edace
Muschio contende all'ellere i recessi,
E tra il coro snelletto dei cipressi
S'addorme in grembo dell'antica pace
Pan. Sul vasto marmoreo torace,
Che i convolvoli infiorano d'amplessi,
Un tempo forse con canti sommessi
Piegò una ninfa il bel torso procace.
Deità della terra, forza lieta!,
Troppo pensiero è nella tua vecchiezza:
Per sempre inaridita è la tua fonte.
Muore il giorno, e nell'alta ombra inquïeta
Trema e s'attrista un canto d'allegrezza:
Lunghe ombre azzurre scendono dal monte...
Hermit Songs
1. At Saint Patrick’s Purgatory
Pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg!
O King of the churches and the bells—
bewailing your sores and your wounds,
but not a tear can I squeeze from my eyes!
Not moisten an eye
after so much sin!
Pity me, O King! What shall I do
with a heart that seeks only its own ease?
O only begotten Son by whom all men were
made,
who shunned not the death by three wounds,
pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg
and I with a heart not softer than a stone!
Your sparkling presence laughs and ripples
With the jewels of serene music.
Water, while along your banks the whispering reeds
Playfully wiggle their blue fingers,
Flickering longer shadows in the light,
You wind your fleeting way, seeing
On my brooding forehead and on each of the leaves
The passing shadows of clouds.
5. Twilight
In the abandoned garden, now the greedy moss
Fights with the ivy for every nook and cranny,
And in the sparse cluster of cypresses,
Sleeping in the womb of ancient peace
Lies Pan. On the vast marble statue,
Wrapped with morning-glory flowers,
Perhaps someday with a gentle song
A nymph might bend over her lovely figure.
God of the earth, joyful force!
You have become too serious in your old age:
Your fountain is dry forever.
The day dies, and through the vast restless shade
A song of happiness trembles and saddens:
Long blue shadows descend from the mountains.
2. Church Bell at Night

Sweet little bell, struck on a windy night,

I would liefer keep tryst with thee
than be with a light and foolish woman.

3. St. Ita’s Vision

“I will take nothing from my Lord,” said she,

“unless He gives me His Son from Heaven
In the form of a Baby that I may nurse Him”.
So that Christ came down to her
in the form of a Baby and then she said:
“Infant Jesus, at my breast,
Nothing in this world is true
Save, O tiny nursling, You.
Infant Jesus at my breast,
By my heart every night,
You I nurse are not a churl
But were begot on Mary the Jewess
By Heaven’s light.
Infant Jesus at my breast,
What King is there but You who could
Give everlasting good?
Wherefore I give my food.
Sing to Him, maidens, sing your best!
There is none that has such right
To your song as Heaven’s King
Who every night
Is Infant Jesus at my breast.”

4. The Heavenly Banquet

I would like to have the men of Heaven in my

own house;
with vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Mary’s,
their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of
Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their
drinking.
I would like to have Jesus sitting here among
them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King
of Kings.
I would like to be watching Heaven’s family
Drinking it through all eternity.

5. The Crucifixion

At the cry of the first bird

They began to crucify Thee, O Swan!
Never shall lament cease because of that.
It was like the parting of day from night.
Ah, sore was the suffering borne
By the body of Mary’s Son,
But sorer still to Him was the grief
Which for His sake
Came upon His Mother.

6. Sea-Snatch

It has broken us, it has crushed us,

it has drowned us, O King of the starbright
Kingdom of Heaven!
The wind has consumed us, swallowed us,
as timber is devoured by crimson fire from
Heaven.
It has broken us, it has crushed us,
it has drowned us, O King of the starbright
Kingdom of Heaven!

7. Promiscuity

I do not know with whom Edan will sleep,

but I do know that fair Edan will not sleep
alone.

8. The Monk and his Cat

Pangur, white Pangur,

How happy we are
Alone together, Scholar and cat.
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me, study.
Your shining eye watches the wall;
My feeble eye is fixed on a book.
You rejoice when your claws entrap a mouse;
I rejoice when my mind fathoms a problem.
Pleased with his own art
Neither hinders the other;
Thus we live ever
Without tedium and envy.
Pangur, white Pangur,
How happy we are,
Alone together, Scholar and cat.

9. The Praises of God

How foolish the man who does not raise

His voice and praise with joyful words,
As he alone can, Heaven’s High King.
To whom the light birds with no soul but air,
All day, everywhere laudations sing.

10. The Desire for Hermitage

Ah! To be all alone in a little cell

with nobody near me;
beloved that pilgrimage before the last
pilgrimage to death.
Singing the passing hours to cloudy Heaven;
Feeding upon dry bread and water from the
cold spring.
That will be an end to evil when I am alone
in a lovely little corner among tombs
far from the houses of the great.
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell, to be alone,
all alone:
Alone I came into the world
alone I shall go from it.

Cinco Canções Brasileiras do

Folclore Nordestino Five Song of Brazilian Northeastern Folklore

1. O’ Kinimbá
1. O’ Kinimbá
O' Kinimbá! Kinimbá!
Dadaôkê Kinimbá! (No Translation available)
Salôajô nuaiê.

2. Capim di Pranta 2. Grass Plant

Tá capinando, tá! It’s growing, it is!

Capim di pranta, tá capinando, tá nascendo, The grass, it’s growing, it’s sprouting
Rainha mandou dizê pru módi pará co'essa
lavoura
Mandou dizê! Mandou pará!
3. Nigue-Nigue-Ninhas
Nigue-nigue-ninhas, tão bonitinhas
Macamba viola di pari e ganguinhas
Ê imbê, tumbelá
Mussangolá quina quinê
4. São João Da-ra-rão
São João da-ra-rão tem uma gaita ra-rai-ta
Quando toco-ro-ro-ca bate nela
Todos os anja-ra-ran-jos tocam gaita-ra-rai-ta
Tocam tanta-ra-ran-to aqui na terra.
La no cente-re-ren-to da avenidi-ri-ri-da
Tem xaró-po-ro-ró-pe escorregou
Agarrousô-rô-rou-se em meu vestidi-ri-ri-do
Deu uma prégué-ré-ré-ga e me deixou.
Maria, tu vai ao baile
Tu leva o chale, que vai chovê
E, depois, de madrugada, ai ai
Toda molhada, ai ai, tu vai morrê.
Maria, tu vai casares
eu vou te dares os parabens
vou te dares uma prenda, ai ai
Saia de renda, ai ai, e dois vintens.
5. Engenho Novo
Engenho novo! Bota a roda pra rodá!
Eu dei um pulo, dei dois pulo, dei tres pulo
desta ves pulei o muro quaji morro di pulá
Capim di pranta, xique, xique, mela, mela
Eu passei pela capela, vi dois padri nu altá
The queen ordered the workers to stop farming
She ordered! She ordered to stop!
3. Nigue-Nigue-Ninhas
(No Translation Available)
4. São João Da-ra-rão
St. John has a harmonica
When he plays, he beats on it
All the angels play the harmonica
They play it so much here on earth
There in the center of the avenue
He slipped in something sticky
He grabbed my dress
He wrinkled it and left me
Maria, go to the dance
Take a shawl, it will rain,
And later, at daybreak, ah, ah!
Completely drenched, ah! You will die.
Maria, you will get married,
I will congratulate you
I will give you a present, ah! ah!
A silken skirt, ah!ah! And two coins.
5. New engine
New engine! Put on the wheel so it rotates!
I jumped one, two, three times
This time I jumped the wall, almost killed myself
Grass, cactus,
I passed the chapel, I saw two priests at the altar!