Ständchen (Leise flehen meine Lieder)
Leise flehen meine Lieder
Durch die Nacht zu dir;
In den stillen Hain hernieder,
Liebchen, komm zu mir!
Flüsternd schlanke Wipfel rauschen
In des Mondes Licht;
Des Verräters feindlich Lauschen
Fürchte, Holde, nicht.
Durch die Nacht zu dir;
In den stillen Hain hernieder,
Liebchen, komm zu mir!
Flüsternd schlanke Wipfel rauschen
In des Mondes Licht;
Des Verräters feindlich Lauschen
Fürchte, Holde, nicht.
Softly my songs plead
through the night to you;
down into the quiet grove,
beloved, come to me!
Slender treetops rustle, whispering
in the moonlight;
the hostile eavesdropping of a traitor
do not fear, my lovely one.
through the night to you;
down into the quiet grove,
beloved, come to me!
Slender treetops rustle, whispering
in the moonlight;
the hostile eavesdropping of a traitor
do not fear, my lovely one.
Hörst die Nachtigallen schlagen?
Ach! sie flehen dich,
Mit der Töne süßen Klagen
Flehen sie für mich.
Sie verstehn des Busens Sehnen,
Kennen Liebesschmerz,
Rühren mit den Silbertönen
Jedes weiche Herz.
Ach! sie flehen dich,
Mit der Töne süßen Klagen
Flehen sie für mich.
Sie verstehn des Busens Sehnen,
Kennen Liebesschmerz,
Rühren mit den Silbertönen
Jedes weiche Herz.
Do you hear the nightingales singing?
Ah, they are pleading with you;
with the sweet laments of their notes
they plead for me.
They understand the longing of the heart,
they know the pain of love,
with their silver tones they move
every tender heart.
Ah, they are pleading with you;
with the sweet laments of their notes
they plead for me.
They understand the longing of the heart,
they know the pain of love,
with their silver tones they move
every tender heart.
Laß auch dir die Brust bewegen,
Liebchen, höre mich!
Bebend harr' ich dir entgegen!
Komm, beglücke mich!
Liebchen, höre mich!
Bebend harr' ich dir entgegen!
Komm, beglücke mich!
Let your heart, too, be moved,
beloved, hear me!
Trembling, I wait for you!
Come, make me happy!
beloved, hear me!
Trembling, I wait for you!
Come, make me happy!
About the song. One of the songs Schubert wrote in the last months of his life; the publisher Tobias Haslinger gathered them after his death as 'Schwanengesang' (Swan Song). The piano imitates a guitar or mandolin under the singer's window, and in the second stanza it echoes the voice like the nightingales the lover describes.
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Translation © Art Song Translations. You may print it free of charge in concert and recital programs with the credit "Translation: Art Song Translations". The German text is in the public domain; repetitions made by the composer are not printed.
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