A Poet's Love...nice and refreshing poetry, but better translation!
Poetry by Heinrich Heine. Translated by William Mann
1. In the marvellous month of May
In the marvellous month of May
when all the buds were bursting,
then in my heart did
love arise.
In the marvellous month of May
when all the birds were singing,
then did I reveal to her
my yearning and longing.
2. From my tears there spring
From my tears there spring
up many blossoming flowers.
And my sighs turn into
a choir of nightingales.
And if you love me, child,
I will give you all the flowers,
and at your window shall sound
the song of the nightingale.
3. The rose, the lily, the dove, the sun
The rose, the lily, the dove, the sun,
once, rapt with love, I loved them all.
I love them no more, I love only
her who is small, exquisite, chaste, unique.
She, all loving rapture, herself
is rose and lily and dove and sun.
4. When I gaze into your eyes
When I gaze into your eyes
all my pain and grief vanishes,
then when I kiss your mouth
I am made wholly and completely well.
When I lean on your bosom
joy as of heaven comes upon me;
but when you say "I love you,"
I must weep bitterly.
5. I long to sink my soul
I long to sink my soul
within the cup of the lily;
the lily would sing in whispers
a song of my beloved.
The song would tremble and quiver
like the kiss from her mouth
that once she gave me
in an hour of wondrous sweetness.
6. In the Rhine, the holy river
In the Rhine. the holy river,
there in the waves is reflected
with its mighty cathedral,
mighty, holy Cologne.
In the cathedral there hangs a picture
painted on golden leather;
into the wilderness of my life
it has shed its friendly beams.
Flowers and angels hover there
round Our Lady;
her eyes, her lips, her cheeks
are exactly like my beloved's.
7. I do not complain
I do not complain, even if my heart is breaking,
love lost for ever! I do not complain.
Though you gleam with the glory of diamonds.
no gleam falls into the night of your heart.
I knew it long ago-I saw you in my dreams
and saw night in the confines of your heart,
and saw the viper that gnaws at your bosom;
I saw, my love, how wretched you are.
8. If only the flowers could know
If only the flowers, little as they are,
could know how deeply wounded is my heart,
they would weep with me
to heal my sorrow.
If only the nightingales knew
how sad and sick I am,
they would gladly pour out
their refreshing song.
If only they knew my woe,
those golden stars,
they would come down from aloft
and speak comfort to me.
They can none of them know,
one only knows my sorrow;
she herself has made the rent,
has rent my heart asunder.
9. There is fluting and fiddling
There is fluting and fiddling,
trumpets are blaring within.
There in the wedding circle dances
the best beloved of my heart.
There is a hubbub and a din,
drumming and piping,
and in between are sobbing and wailing
the dear angels.
10. When I hear the sound of the song
When I hear the sound of song
that once my beloved sang,
my bosom is near to bursting
with the savage strain of sorrow.
A dark longing drives me
up to the woody heights;
there in tears is released
my overwhelming woe.
11. A lad loves a girl
A lad loves a girl;
she has chosen another.
That other loves another,
and it is this one he has married.
The girl out of anger accepts
the first good man
who crosses her path
the lad is hard hit.
It is an old tale
but it remains ever new,
and when it has just happened to a man
his heart breaks in twain.
12. On a gleaming morning in summer
On a gleaming morning in summer
I pace about in the garden.
The flowers they whisper and speak,
but I wander speechless.
The flowers they whisper and speak,
and look at me compassionately;
"Do not be cross with our sister,
you sorrowful, pale-faced man!"
13. I wept in my dreams
I wept in my dreams.
I dreamed you lay in the grave;
I awoke, and the tears
still poured down my cheeks.
I wept in my dreams,
I dreamed you had left me;
I awoke and I went on weeping
long and bitterly.
I wept in my dreams,
I dreamed you were still kind to me;
I awoke, and still
the flow of my tears streams on.
14. All night in dreams I see you
All night in dreams I see you,
and see you greet me warmly,
and crying aloud I throw myself
at your sweet feet,
You look at me sadly
and shake your fair head
From your eyes there are stealing
teardrops like pearls.
Secretly you speak to me a hushed word,
and give me a branch of cypress.
I wake up, and the branch is gone
and I have forgotten the word.
15. From old tales someone waves
From old tales someone waves
out with a white hand.
There is singing, and there are sounds
of a magical land,
Where gay flowers bloom
in golden evening light,
and, sweetly smelling, glow
with faces radiant as brides,
And green trees are singing
the tunes of long ago;
the breezes sound softly
and birds twitter there.
And misty shapes rise
up out of the ground
and dance in airy circles
a wondrous assembly,
And azure sparks are burning
on every leaf and twig,
and crimson lights are running
in circles hither and thither.
And noisy springs are bursting
from the unhewn marble rock,
and strangely in the streams
glows the reflection.
Ah! Could I but go there,
and there make my heart happy,
and be relieved of all sorrows,
and be free and full of joy.
Ah! that land of rapture,
I see it ofien in my dreams,
but the sun comes at morning
and dispels it like empty bubbles.
16. The old and evil songs
The old and evil songs,
the dreams so evil and bad
let us bury them now
fetch an enormous coffin.
In it I'll lay plenty
(but I don't yet say what it is);
the coffin must be even larger
than the tun of Heidelberg.
And fetch a funeral bier
and planks firm and thick;
it too must be even longer
than the bridge at Mainz.
And then fetch me twelve giants;
they must be mightier even
than mighty St. Christopher
in the cathedral of Cologne on the Rhine.
They shall carry the coffin away
and sink it deep in the sea;
for such a huge coffin
demands a huge grave.
Do you know why the coffin
must be so huge and heavy?
I want to sink my love
and my sorrow in it.
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