Songs

Über die Heide

by Johannes Brahms

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Text & Translation

View IPA

Über die Heide
German source: Theodor Storm

Über die Heide hallet mein Schritt;
Dumpf aus der Erde wandert es mit.

Herbst ist gekommen, Frühling ist weit,
Gab es denn einmal selige Zeit?

Brauende Nebel geisten umher,
Schwarz ist das Kraut und der Himmel so leer.

Wär ich nur hier nicht gegangen im Mai!
Leben und Liebe – wie flog es vorbei!

Over the heath
English translation © Richard Stokes

Over the heath my steps resound;
Muffled sounds from the earth wander with me.

Autumn has come, Spring is far distant,
Did rapture once really exist?

Swirling mists ghost about,
The heather is black and the sky so empty.

Had I never wandered here in May!
Life and love – how they flew by!

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Über die Heide
German source: Theodor Storm

Over the heath
English source: Richard Stokes

Über die Heide hallet mein Schritt;
Over the heath my steps resound;
Dumpf aus der Erde wandert es mit.
Muffled sounds from the earth wander with me.

Herbst ist gekommen, Frühling ist weit,
Autumn has come, Spring is far distant,
Gab es denn einmal selige Zeit?
Did rapture once really exist?

Brauende Nebel geisten umher,
Swirling mists ghost about,
Schwarz ist das Kraut und der Himmel so leer.
The heather is black and the sky so empty.

Wär ich nur hier nicht gegangen im Mai!
Had I never wandered here in May!
Leben und Liebe – wie flog es vorbei!
Life and love – how they flew by!

Composer

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna.  Brahms has been considered, by his…

Poet

Theodor Storm

Theodor Storm was a German writer. A major figure in German realism, he is perhaps best known his novellas Immensee and Der Schimmelreiter. Read more here.

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