Category Archives: Robert Reinick


Robert Reinick: “A Curious Circumstance”

Excerpt, “The Poetry of Germany, Consisting from Upwards of Seventy of the Most Celebrated Poets.”  Translated into English Verse by Alfred Baskerville.  1853.

21. Graafland, Robert Archibalt - Young Lovers, 1911

a curious

Robert Reinick: “Message of Love”

Set by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), “Liebesbotschaft”, op. 36 no. 6, from “Sechs Gedichte aus dem Liederbuch eines Malers, No. 6.” Translation © Emily Ezust, Lied & Art Song Texts Page.

adrian_ludwig_richtermadchen-auf-der-wiese1823a

Adrian  Ludwig Richter – Mädchen auf der Wiese – 1823

Liebesbotschaft

 

Clouds that hurry toward the East,

where the one who’s mine is waiting,

all my wishes, my hopes and songs

shall fly with you on your wings,

shall steer you, hurrying ones, to her

so that my chaste love

shall think of me with loyal love.

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Sing morning dreams to her still,

float gently in the garden,

sink like dew into the shadowy room,

strew pearls upon the flowers and trees

so that to that wonderful being, if she passes by,

all the merry blossoms

shall open with even brighter splendor.

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And in the evening, in the silent calm,

spread the sinking sun’s light upon her!

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It shall paint you purple and gold;

And in the sea, bright with glow and sunbeams,

the little ship plies its way,

so that she believes singing angels

are preserving her.

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Yes, it may well be angels,

if my heart were pure like hers;

All my wishes, my hopes and songs

are drawn there on your wings,

are steered there by you, hurrying ones,

to my chaste love,

so that I alone may think of her.

Robert Reinick: “Come In The Still Night”

Robert Reinick: “The Moondial”

Excerpt, “The Book of German Songs from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century.” Translated and Edited by H. W. Dulcken. 1856.

the moondial

Robert Reinick: “Where Still Shadows Fall”

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Excerpt, “Ballads from the German.” Edinburgh: 1864. Translator: Henry Inglis.

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moon song.

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Where Still Shadows Fall.

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Come in the still night,

Thou dearest and best!

Tis long since the sunlight

Has sunk to its rest.

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Why tarry, my heart?

The starlight is clear!

The moon’s silver crest

Is hastening near.

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See how the moon gleams

On blossoms and spray!

Trust in the moonbeams.

For loyal are they:

What fearest thou? Love come away!

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In dreamy bliss lie

Each floweret and tree

Love only is waking, to gaze upon thee.

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List to the nightingale.

List to my call:

Come, Dearest, come, where still shadows fall.

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Robert Reinick: “Song of the Apprentice”

By Robert Reinick (1805-1852). Set by Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), “Gesellenlied”, from 9 Reinick-Lieder, no. 7. Translation © Emily Ezust, Lied and Art Song Text Page.


Gesellenlied


Masters do not fall from the sky!
And that's a piece of luck, too!
for already there are too many masters here;
if another bunch were to fall from the sky,
how bruised we apprentices would get
by all of them,
despite our masterpieces!

Masters do not fall from the sky!
Praise God, neither do masters' wives!
Ah, dear heaven, be so kind,
if up there one is grumbling,
keep her in mercy
so that she doesn't
come down to earth to shame us!

Masters do not fall from the sky!
Nor do masters' daughters!
A very long time have I known this,
and yet, what a joy that would be,
if, young and pretty and merry,
such a maiden were to come down,
and be my true love!

Masters do not fall from the sky!
That is my comfort in this world;
and so I intend to be a master myself,
and if I am gifted with a wife,
then this earth shall be
a heaven to me,
from which no master will fall.
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