Text & Translation
Maiblumen blühten überall for Soprano and String Sextet
German source:
Richard Dehmel
er sah mich an so trüb und müd.
Im Faulbaum rief eine Nachtigall:
die Blüte flieht! die Blüte flieht!
Von Düften war die Nacht so warm,
so warm wie Blut, wie unser Blut;
und wir so jung und freudenarm.
Und über uns im Busch das Lied,
das schluchzende Lied: die Glut verglüht!
Und er so treu und mir so gut.
In Knospen schoß der wilde Mohn,
es sog die Sonne unsern Schweiß.
Es wurden rot die Knospen schon,
da wurden meine Wangen weiß.
Ums liebe Brot, ums teure Brot
floß doppelt heiß ins Korn sein Schweiß,
der wilde Mohn stand feuerrot;
es war wohl fressendes Gift der Schweiß,
auch seine Wangen wurden weiß,
und die Sonne stach im Korn ihn tot.
Lilies-of-the-valley blossomed everywhere
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
he gazed at me with such sad and weary eyes.
In the berry-bearing alder a nightingale called:
blossoms flee! Blossoms flee!
The night was so warm with scents,
as warm as blood, our blood;
and we so young and joyless.
And the song above us in the bush,
the sobbing song: passion is fading!
And he so true and so loving to me.
Wild poppy buds sprang up,
the sun sucked our sweat.
The buds were already turning red –
my cheeks were turning white.
To earn dear and cherished bread
his sweat flowed doubly warm into the corn,
the wild poppy stood red as fire;
his sweat was corroding poison,
and his cheeks too turned white,
and the sun burned him to death in the corn.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Maiblumen blühten überall for Soprano and String Sextet
German source:
Richard Dehmel
Lilies-of-the-valley blossomed everywhere
English source:
Richard Stokes
Maiblumen blühten überall;
Lilies-of-the-valley blossomed everywhere;
er sah mich an so trüb und müd.
he gazed at me with such sad and weary eyes.
Im Faulbaum rief eine Nachtigall:
In the berry-bearing alder a nightingale called:
die Blüte flieht! die Blüte flieht!
blossoms flee! Blossoms flee!
Von Düften war die Nacht so warm,
The night was so warm with scents,
so warm wie Blut, wie unser Blut;
as warm as blood, our blood;
und wir so jung und freudenarm.
and we so young and joyless.
Und über uns im Busch das Lied,
And the song above us in the bush,
das schluchzende Lied: die Glut verglüht!
the sobbing song: passion is fading!
Und er so treu und mir so gut.
And he so true and so loving to me.
In Knospen schoß der wilde Mohn,
Wild poppy buds sprang up,
es sog die Sonne unsern Schweiß.
the sun sucked our sweat.
Es wurden rot die Knospen schon,
The buds were already turning red –
da wurden meine Wangen weiß.
my cheeks were turning white.
Ums liebe Brot, ums teure Brot
To earn dear and cherished bread
floß doppelt heiß ins Korn sein Schweiß,
his sweat flowed doubly warm into the corn,
der wilde Mohn stand feuerrot;
the wild poppy stood red as fire;
es war wohl fressendes Gift der Schweiß,
his sweat was corroding poison,
auch seine Wangen wurden weiß,
and his cheeks too turned white,
und die Sonne stach im Korn ihn tot.
and the sun burned him to death in the corn.
Composer
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Read more here.
Poet
Richard Dehmel
Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel was a German poet and writer. His poems use a range of metrical patterns, and have been set to music by composers such as Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, and Kurt Weill. His poetry often focused on themes of love and…