.

Night is like a quiet sea:

joy and sorrow and the laments of love

become tangled up

in the gentle throbbing of the waves.

.

Desires are like clouds

that sail through the quiet space:

who can recognize in the mild wind

whether they are thoughts or dreams?

.

Even if my heart and mouth now are closed,

that once so easily lamented to the stars,

still, at the bottom of my heart

there remains the gentle throbbing of those waves.

...

Your blissful, wonderful image

I have in my heart's depths;

it looks so freshly and joyously

at me in every moment.

.

My heart sings mutely to itself

an old, beautiful song

that soars into the air

and hastens to your side.
.
.

Eichendorff: “The Nun and the Knight”

By Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857), “Die Nonne und der Ritter”, from Gedichte (Ausgabe 1841), in Romanzen.

Set by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), “Die Nonne und der Ritter”, op. 28 (Vier Duette) no. 1 (1860).Translation © Emily Ezust, Lied & Art Song Texts Page.

Die Nonne und der Ritter

.

As the world goes to rest,

my yearning awakens with the stars;

I must listen in the cool

as the waves roar below!

.

"I am brought here from far away by waves

that beat so mournfully against the land,

beneath the bars of your window.

Lady, do you still know this Knight?"

.

It is as if strange voices

are floating through the mild air;

once again the wind has taken them away, -

alas, my heart is so anxious!

.

"Over there lies your ruined castle

lamenting in its desolate halls;

the way the woods greeted me,

I felt as though I must die."

.

Old sounds burst forth,

sunk long since in time;

melancholy falls on me once again,

and I feel like weeping from my heart.

.

"Over the wood lightning flashes from afar,

where they are fighting over the grave of Christ;

There will I steer my ship,

and there will everything end!"

.

A ship leaves with a man upon it;

false night, you bewilder the mind!

Farewell, world! May God protect

those who wander madly in darkness!

..

I travel silently in the coach -

you are so far from me -

but wherever it might take me,

I remain still with you.

.

There fly by forests, gorges

and lovely deep valleys,

and larks high in the sky,

as if your voice were calling.

.

The sun shines merrily

far beyond the area;

I am so happy and so tearful,

and I sing silently inside.

 .

From the mountains, the path goes downward,

the posthorn rings out below;

my soul grows so cheerful

and I greet you from the bottom of my heart.

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.

 .