Songs
Sein Leichenhemd weiss
by Johannes Brahms, arranged Aribert Reimann From Ophelia-Lieder WoO 22
Sein Leichenhemd weiss
German source:
August Wilhelm von Schlegel
Geziert mit Blumensegen,
Das unbetränt zum Grab musst’ gehn
Von Liebesregen.
His shroud is as white
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Adorned with blessed flowers.
Which had to go tear-stained to the grave,
Wet with love’s showers.
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Sein Leichenhemd weiss
German source:
August Wilhelm von Schlegel
His shroud is as white
English source:
Richard Stokes
Sein Leichenhemd weiss wie Schnee zu sehn,
His shroud is as white as snow
Geziert mit Blumensegen,
Adorned with blessed flowers.
Das unbetränt zum Grab musst’ gehn
Which had to go tear-stained to the grave,
Von Liebesregen.
Wet with love’s showers.
Poet
August Wilhelm von Schlegel
August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel, usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator, critic, and a foremost leader of Jena Romanticism along with his brother Friedrich Schlegel. His translations of Shakespeare made the English…