Songs

Die Mainacht

by Johannes Brahms

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Text & Translation

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Die Mainacht
German source: Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty

Wann der silberne Mond durch die Gesträuche blinkt,
Und sein schlummerndes Licht über den Rasen streut,
Und die Nachtigall flötet,
Wandl’ ich traurig von Busch zu Busch.

Überhüllet vom Laub, girret ein Taubenpaar
Sein Entzücken mir vor; aber ich wende mich,
Suche dunklere Schatten,
Und die einsame Träne rinnt.

Wann, o lächelndes Bild, welches wie Morgenrot
Durch die Seele mir strahlt, find’ ich auf Erden dich?
Und die einsame Träne
Bebt mir heißer die Wang’ herab.

May Night
English translation © Richard Stokes

When the silvery moon gleams through the bushes,
And sheds its slumbering light on the grass,
And the nightingale is fluting,
I wander sadly from bush to bush.

Covered by leaves, a pair of doves
Coo to me their ecstasy; but I turn away,
Seek darker shadows,
And the lonely tear flows down.

When, O smiling vision, that shines through my soul
Like the red of dawn, shall I find you here on earth?
And the lonely tear
Quivers more ardently down my cheek.

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

Die Mainacht
German source: Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty

May Night
English source: Richard Stokes

Wann der silberne Mond durch die Gesträuche blinkt,
When the silvery moon gleams through the bushes,
Und sein schlummerndes Licht über den Rasen streut,
And sheds its slumbering light on the grass,
Und die Nachtigall flötet,
And the nightingale is fluting,
Wandl’ ich traurig von Busch zu Busch.
I wander sadly from bush to bush.

Überhüllet vom Laub, girret ein Taubenpaar
Covered by leaves, a pair of doves
Sein Entzücken mir vor; aber ich wende mich,
Coo to me their ecstasy; but I turn away,
Suche dunklere Schatten,
Seek darker shadows,
Und die einsame Träne rinnt.
And the lonely tear flows down.

Wann, o lächelndes Bild, welches wie Morgenrot
When, O smiling vision, that shines through my soul
Durch die Seele mir strahlt, find’ ich auf Erden dich?
Like the red of dawn, shall I find you here on earth?
Und die einsame Träne
And the lonely tear
Bebt mir heißer die Wang’ herab.
Quivers more ardently down my cheek.

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

Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty

Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty, was German poet who is considered the most gifted lyric poet of the Göttinger Hain, a group of young poets who saw themselves as heirs of the great lyric poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and whose work was…

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