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German Verse by Ludwig Uhland
In the original German with a
line-by-line prose translation in English
| Frühlingsglaube | Faith in Spring |
| von Ludwig Uhland | Prose translation by Hyde Flippo |
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| Die linden Lüfte sind erwacht, | The gentle winds are awakened, |
| Sie säuseln und wehen Tag und Nacht, |
They murmur and waft day and night, |
| Sie schaffen an allen Enden. | They create in every corner. |
| O frischer Duft, o neuer Klang! | Oh fresh scent, oh new sound! |
| Nun, armes Herze, sei nicht bang! | Now, poor dear [heart], fear not! |
| Nun muss sich alles, alles wenden. | Now everything, everything must change. |
| Die Welt wird schöner mit jedem Tag, |
The world becomes more beautiful with each day, |
| Man weiß nicht, was noch werden mag, |
One does not know what may yet happen, |
| Das Blühen will nicht enden. | The blooming doesn’t want to end. |
| Es blüht das fernste, tiefste Tal: | The farthest, deepest valley blooms: |
| Nun, armes Herz, vergiss der Qual! | Now, poor dear [heart], forget the pain! |
| Nun muss sich alles, alles wenden. | Now everything, everything must change. |
Send a greeting card with
lines from this Uhland poem.
I used to know this poem by heart. And I am still pretty familiar with it. Some of the verses come back to me whenever I experience a most beautiful early spring day. Just recently we had such a day with very “gentle winds” that “murmur and waft”. Maybe I would say gentle breezes instead of winds. The poem speaks about these feelings of hope that are awakened in spring. On a beautiful springlike day, such as we had the other day, one feels immensely uplifted.
Today is the 28th of August 2015. Our daughter Gabriele died in 2012. She would have been 58 today.
It would also have been the birthday of Johann von Goethe 9born in 1749). You can see what he had to say about Spring
PREMATURE SPRING
DAYS full of rapture,
Are ye renew’d ?–
Smile in the sunlight
Mountain and wood?
Streams richer laden
Flow through the dale,
Are these the meadows?
Is this the vale?
Coolness cerulean!
Heaven and height!
Fish crowd the ocean,
Golden and bright.
Birds of gay plumage
Sport in the grove,
Heavenly numbers
Singing above.
Under the verdure’s
Vigorous bloom,
Bees, softly bumming,
Juices consume.
Gentle disturbance
Quivers in air,
Sleep-causing fragrance,
Motion so fair.
Soon with more power
Rises the breeze,
Then in a moment
Dies in the trees.
But to the bosom
Comes it again.
Aid me, ye Muses,
Bliss to sustain!
Say what has happen’d
Since yester e’en?
Oh, ye fair sisters,
Her I have seen!
1802.
Thanks for Goethe’s poem, Berlioz, and reminding me of his birthday. 🙂
Sad memories on sweet spring days – though I know you have lots of happy memories too. Uhland’s poem is lovely in German and also have to think of Mörike’s “Er ist’s”. Both of theses deserve a decent English rendering. I like the version of Goethe’s poem – thank you.
Thank you very much for you comment, dear Cat, and for mentioning “Er ist’s”. I googled it and found this:
Er ist’s
Frühling lässt sein blaues Band
Wieder flattern durch die Lüfte;
Süße, wohlbekannte Düfte
Streifen ahnungsvoll das Land.
Veilchen träumen schon,
Wollen balde kommen.
—Horch, von fern ein leiser Harfenton!
Frühling, ja du bists!
Dich habe ich vernommen!
Eduard Mörike 1829
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The stark simplicity of this poem that unfolds so effortlessly in poetic magic has made it a
standout in Eduard Moerike’s literary achievement. It has become the favorite German spring
poem.
The first impression is one of space into which the speaker is being drawn. He is standing in a
tranquil landscape, highly attentive to what is going on around him. He then attempts to draw to
himself what he sees in the distance observing minute movement in distant space: the fluttering
blueness in the air becomes a ribbon, thus transforming the imagined into a concrete presence.
The atmosphere is in gentle movement spreading the familiar scent. The violets are coming to
life, as if they were ushering in the spring.
The poem has to do exclusively with sense experience. First with the sense of sight, then the
sense of smell, and lastly the sense of hearing which triggers a feeling of jubilation, convincing
the speaker that his expectant longing is about to be fulfulled. Satiated with sense experience the
speaker bursts forth with his first self-conscious utterance with “Oh Spring, it is you”. Each of the
last two lines is punctuated with the sign of joy, an exclamation point.
The German title [Er Ists] strikes the English-speaking reader who would translate Er ists = He is.
But “Er” refers to the masculine German word “Fruehlung” = Spring. In the German version the
poet deftly employs the masculine the word spring in the title and transforming it within the
poem as he progresses from a distant “he” to a close “you” relationship with spring itself. In the
end it is an intimate personal encounter between “I” and “you”.
……………………………
It is Spring
Spring lets her blue ribbon
Flutter in the breeze again;
Sweet, familiar scents
Drift with promise o’er the land.
Violets lie dreaming still,
Soon to be awakened.
—Listen, the sound of a harp,
so faint from so far!
Spring, it is you!
I can hear you coming!
Translation: Charles L. Cingolani – See more at: http://www.cingolani.com/3em.html#sthash.0Dth0tZW.dpuf
I enjoyed reading that beautiful piece of verse Uta.
A gentle changing season imagery bought to life beautifully in words.
“Linde Lüfte”, Ian, always seem to stir some special feelings, especially after very cold and dark winter days. I always loved these verses that describe this great feeling in spring.
Beautiful how some simple words can bring Spring into our hearts.