Songs

Licht und Liebe (1816) D352

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Licht und Liebe

Matthäus von Collin

Liebe ist ein süsses Licht.

Wie die Erde strebt zur Sonne,

Und zu jenen hellen Sternen

In den weiten blauen Fernen,

Strebt das Herz nach Liebeswonne:

Denn sie ist ein süsses Licht.

Sieh! wie hoch in stiller Feier

Droben helle Sterne funkeln:

von der Erde fliehn die dunkeln

Schwermutsvollen trüben Schleier.

Wehe mir, wie so trübe

Fühl ich tief mich im Gemüte,

Das in Freuden sonst erblühte,

Nun vereinsamt, ohne Liebe.

Light and Love

English Translation © Richard Wigmore

Love is a sweet light.

Just as the earth aches for the sun

and those bright stars

in the distant blue expanses,

so the heart aches for love’s bliss,

for love is a sweet light.

See, high in the silent solemnity,

bright stars glitter up above:

from the earth flee the dark

heavy baleful mists.

Alas! Yet how sad I feel

deep in my soul;

once I brimmed with joy;

now I am abandoned, unloved.

Composer

Poet

Matthäus Casimir von Collin was a leading poet in the Vienna of his time, the younger brother of the poet and playwright Heinrich Joseph von Collin.. Some of his works have been set to music by Schubert, such as Der Zwerg (D. 771), Wehmut (D. 772) and Nacht und Träume (D. 827).

He was editor of the Wiener Jahrbücher für Literatur. He was in sympathy with the Romantic movement, and intimate with its leaders. His dramas on themes from Austrian national history (Belas Krieg mit dem Vater, 1808; Der Tod Friedrichs des Streitbaren, 1813) may be regarded as the immediate precursors of Grillparzer's historical tragedies.

Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full Wikipedia article please click here.

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