Emanuel von Geibel

1815-1884

Set by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847), “Im Herbste,” op. 10, no. 4 (1846?). Translation © Emily Ezust, Lied & Art Song Texts Page.

Im Herbste

On the top of the garden wall

there quivers a single last vine,

just as in my mind there quivers

painfully a single thought.

I can hardly catch it,

but it will not leave me alone,

alas, not even for one second.

And so I contemplate it, and endure

all the nights and days,

and with me always is the hollow lament,

that you are lost to me.

Waterhouse

Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857)

Set by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847), “Nachtwanderer,” op. 7, no. 1. Translation © Emily Ezust, Lied & Art Song Texts Page.

Ich wandre durch die stille Nacht

I wander through the quiet night;

the moon floats so secretly and gently,

often out from a dark cover of clouds.

And here and there in the valley

a nightingale awakens

but then all is gray and still again.

O wonderful nightsong

from distant parts - the rushing of a stream

and the soft shuddering in the dark trees

confuse my thoughts.

My clamorous singing here

is only like a cry from my dreams.

My singing is a cry,

only a cry from my dreams.