TRANSLATIONS
1. Since I saw him
Since I saw him
I believe myself to be blind,
where I but cast my gaze,
I see him alone.
as in waking dreams
his image floats before me,
dipped from deepest darkness,
brighter in ascent.
All else dark and colorless
everywhere around me,
for the games of my sisters
I no longer yearn,
I would rather weep,
silently in my little chamber,
since I saw him,
I believe myself to be blind.
2. He, the most glorious of all
He, the most glorious of all,
O how mild, so good!
lovely lips, clear eyes,
bright mind and steadfast courage.
Just as yonder in the blue depths,
bright and glorious, that star,
so he is in my heavens,
bright and glorious, lofty and distant.
Meander, meander thy paths,
but to observe thy gleam,
but to observe in meekness,
but to be blissful and sad!
Hear not my silent prayer,
consecrated only to thy happiness,
thou mays’t not know me, lowly maid,
lofty star of glory!
Only the worthiest of all
may make happy thy choice,
and I will bless her, the lofty one,
many thousand times.
I will rejoice then and weep,
blissful, blissful I’ll be then;
if my heart should also break,
break, O heart, what of it?
3. I can’t grasp it, nor believe it
I can’t grasp it, nor believe it,
a dream has bewitched me,
how should he, among all the others,
lift up and make happy poor me?
It seemed to me, as if he spoke,
“I am thine eternally”,
It seemed – I dream on and on,
It could never be so.
O let me die in this dream,
cradled on his breast,
let the most blessed death drink me up
in tears of infinite bliss.
4. Thou ring on my finger English
Thou ring on my finger,
my little golden ring,
I press thee piously upon my lips
piously upon my heart.
I had dreamt it,
the tranquil, lovely dream of childhood,
I found myself alone and lost
in barren, infinite space.
Thou ring on my finger,
Thou hast taught me for the first time,
hast opened my gaze unto
the endless, deep value of life.
I want to serve him, live for him,
belong to him entirely,
Give myself and find myself
transfigured in his radiance.
Thou ring on my finger,
my little golden ring,
I press thee piously upon lips,
piously upon my heart.
5. Help me, ye sisters
Help me, ye sisters,
friendly, adorn me,
serve me, today’s fortunate one,
busily wind
about my brow
the adornment of blooming myrtle.
Otherwise, gratified,
of joyful heart,
I would have lain in the arms of the beloved,
so he called ever out,
yearning in his heart,
impatient for the present day.
Help me, ye sisters,
help me to banish
a foolish anxiety,
so that I may with clear
eyes receive him,
him, the source of joyfulness.
Dost, my beloved,
thou appear to me,
givest thou, sun, thy shine to me?
Let me with devotion,
let me in meekness,
let me curtsy before my lord.
Strew him, sisters,
strew him with flowers,
bring him budding roses,
but ye, sisters,
I greet with melancholy,
joyfully departing from your midst.
6. Sweet friend, thou gazest
Sweet friend, thou gazest
upon me in wonderment,
thou cannst not grasp it,
why I can weep;
Let the moist pearls’
unaccustomed adornment
tremble, joyful-bright,
in my eyes.
How anxious my bosom,
how rapturous!
If I only knew, with words,
how I should say it;
come and bury thy visage
here in my breast,
I want to whisper in thy ear
all my happiness.
Knowest thou the tears,
that I can weep?
Shouldst thou not see them,
thou beloved man?
Stay by my heart,
feel its beat,
that I may, fast and faster,
hold thee.
Here, at my bed,
the cradle shall have room,
where it silently conceals
my lovely dream;
the morning will come
where the dream awakes,
and from there thy image
shall smile at me.
7. At my heart, at my breast
At my heart, at my breast,
thou my rapture, my happiness!
The joy is the love, the love is the joy,
I have said it, and won’t take it back.
I’ve thought myself rapturous,
but now I’m happy beyond that.
Only she that suckles, only she that loves
the child, to whom she gives nourishment;
Only a mother knows alone
what it is to love and be happy.
O how I pity then the man
who cannot feel a mother’s joy!
[Thou lookst at me and smiles,
Thou dear, dear angel thou]1
At my heart, at my breast,
thou my rapture, my happiness!
8. Now thou hast given me, for the first time, pain
Now thou hast given me, for the first time, pain,
how it struck me.
Thou sleepst, thou hard, merciless man,
the sleep of death.
The abandoned one gazes straight ahead,
the world is void.
I have loved and lived, I am
no longer living.
I withdraw silently into myself,
the veil falls,
there I have thee and my lost happiness,
O thou my world!
Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Daniel Platt
How shall I know my true love
English translation © William Shakespeare
How shall I know my true love
From others now?
By his cockle hat and staff
And his sandal shoes.
He is dead and long gone,
Dead and gone, lady!
At his head green grass,
At his feet a stone. O, ho!
On his shroud white as snow
Many sweet flowers mourn.
They’ll go wet to the grave, alas,
Wet with love’s showers.
Good morning, it’s St Valentine’s Day
English translation © William Shakespeare
Good morning, it’s St Valentine’s Day,
So early before sunrise.
I, young maid at the window,
Shall be your Valentine.
The young man put trousers on,
Opened up the chamber door,
Let in the maid who as a maid
Departed nevermore.
By St Nicholas and Charity,
What a shameless breed!
A young man does it when he can,
Which is, forsooth, not right.
She said: before you trifled with me,
You promised to marry me.
I’d not, by sunlight! have broken my word,
If you had not come in.
They carried him naked on the bier
English translation © William Shakespeare
They carried him naked on the bier,
Alas, alas, the dear one!
Many a tear dropped in the grave—
Farewell, farewell, my dove!
My young fresh Johnnie it is
I love—and will he come never more?
He is dead, ah woe!
To your deathbed go,
He will come to you never more.
His beard was white as snow,
His head was like flax.
He is gone, he is gone,
Nothing comes of mourning:
May his soul rest in peace
With all Christian souls! That is my prayer!
God be with you!
An einem lichten Morgen
German source: Hermann Rollett
An einem lichten Morgen,
Da klingt es hell im Tal:
Wach’ auf, du liebe Blume,
Ich bin der Sonnenstrahl!
Erschließe mit Vertrauen
Dein Blütenkämmerlein
Und laß die heiße Liebe
In’s Heiligtum hinein.
Ich will ja nichts verlangen
Als liegen dir im Schoß
Und deine Blüte küssen,
Eh’ sie verwelkt im Moos.
Ich will ja nichts begehren
Als ruh’n an deiner Brust
Und dich dafür verklären
Mit sonnenheller Lust.
On a clear morning
English translation © Richard Stokes
On a clear morning
The valley resounds brightly:
Wake up, dear flower,
I am the ray of the sun!
Trust me, and open up
Your little flower chamber
And let burning love
Penetrate your sanctuary.
After all, I only wish
To lie on your bosom
And kiss your blossoms,
Before they wither in the moss.
After all, I only desire
To rest on your bosom
And transfigure you
With sun-bright joy.