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Gute Nacht
Good Night

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

I was a stranger when I came,
Am still a stranger as I go.
Carried here on the tide of May,
I gathered many a flower spray.
The girl she loved me, so she said,
Her mother hoped we might be wed.
But this drear world is not the same,
My path lies deep in snow.

I did not choose to travel
At this hour of day,
Alone and in the darkness
To find my solitary way.
The moonlight casts a shadow
That follows as a friend
Across the barren whiteness
Where animal tracks blend.

Why should I stay and languish
Only to be cast out?
Let mad dogs howl in anguish
When they are left without!
For Love loves ever moving on,
That was the Lord’s design.
Now to another you have gone,
So, Good Night, dearest mine.

I’ll not disturb your dreaming,
For you must have your rest;
You shall not hear the creaking floor
As I gently close the door,
But in the morning you will find
That I have held you in my mind,
For as I pass the gate, I’ll write,
In the snow, I’ll write: Good Night.

Die Wetterfahne
The Weathercock

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

The wind toys with the weathercock
Where my love’s people dwell.
My crazed mind wonders, ”Does it mock
Him who runs from Hell?”

He should have noticed sooner;
The sign was in full view,
Then he would not have thought to find
A woman good and true.

The wind plays on the hearts within
As on the roof, but not so loud –
What concern’s my pain to them;
Their girl’s betrothed is rich and proud….

Gefrorene Tränen
Frozen Tears

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

Frozen drops
Fall from my cheeks –
Could I have wept
Unawares?

Yes, tears. Oh, tears
That you should be so tepid
As to set in beads of ice
Like gentle morning dew!

You that were pressed red-hot
From my heart
As if to melt
The whole of Winter!

Erstarrung
Turned to Ice

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

In vain I look in the snow
For some trace left by her feet
As on my arm she crossed
The meadow in the heat.

I want to kiss the ground,
To pierce the ice and snow,
With my hot tears
To reach the earth below.

But where is there a flower
And where grass that is green?
The flowers have all wilted,
The grass is pale and mean.

So is there then no souvenir
I can take from this place?
For when my feelings have grown dull,
To remind me of her face?

It seems to me my heart has died
The frozen image of her heart inside.
But if my heart should ever thaw,
Her image would melt and be no more.

Der Lindenbaum
The Linden Tree

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

By the well, beyond the gate
Stands a linden tree.
I used to dream beneath its shade –
Ah, what sweet memory!
I used to cut into its bark
My beloved’s name,
And when happy or even sad,
Was drawn there all the same.

Today I had to pass it
In the depth of night
And, despite the darkness
Had to avert my sight.
And its branches rustled
As if calling out to me:
"Come here! This way, my friend,
There’s peace here, you will see.”

The icy winds were blowing
Straight into my face,
They blew my hat right off my head,
But I would not give chase.
Now that tree’s behind me
Many hours’ walk away,
Yet still I hear it rustling:
"Here’s peace,” the branches say.

Wasserflut
The Flood

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

From my eyes many a tear has fallen
And greedily the flakes of snow
Have quenched the fire of my pain.

When it’s time for grass to grow,
Warm, gentle winds are felt,
The ice soon breaks in pieces
And soon the soft snows melt.

Snow, you know my yearning –
Tell me where you mean to go:
And if you would pursue my tears,
Then join the river’s flow,

Pass through the busy town,
The streets and alley ways,
And when you note the glow of tears,
That’s where my sweetheart stays.

Auf dem Flusse
On the River

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

Wild, bright river
That babbled with such cheer,
How quiet you have grown –
Left no word you’d disappear …

Over your surface you have drawn
A thick unyielding crust,
And lie there cold and motionless
On a bed of grit and dust.

Now, with a sharply pointed stone
I’ll cut into your shell
The hour, day and name
Of her I loved so well.

The day of our first meeting,
The day I left again,
And round the names and figures
I’ll carve a broken chain.

My heart, here in this river
Do you recognise your state?
And do you think its undercurrents
Are also in full spate?

Rückblick
A Backward Glance

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

My feet are burning despite the snow
But I ignore my plight,
I will not stop to catch my breath
Till the towers are out of sight.

I’ve stumbled over many a stone
In my desperate rush to leave.
The crows threw hail and icicles
From high on every eave.

How different was my welcome
In this inconstant town
When songbirds at the windows
Vied who would win the crown.

The linden trees were blooming,
The streams laughing with joy!
A girl’s two eyes were gleaming –
Ah, that was for you, my boy!

Whenever that day comes to mind,
I yearn to look back once more,
To return, somehow, and find
I’m there, quietly at her door.

Irrlicht
Will-o'-the-wisp

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

The will-o’-the-wisp, there, lures me
Deep into the rocky abyss;
How I might get out again –
That will be hit or miss,

For I’m used to walk at random,
All roads have their end;
Our sorrows and our happiness
On whims of chance depend.

I’ll follow the dry river bed
Wending its way below;
All rivers end up in the sea,
And in the grave, our woe.

Rast
Rest

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

It’s only now I’ve stopped
I feel how tired I’ve become.
Walking kept my spirits up
When the road was wearisome.
My feet, they did not want to rest,
It was too cold to stand.
My back, it did not feel its load,
The wind lent a helping hand.

Now in the charcoal burner’s hut
I’ve lain down on the floor,
But my limbs can find no rest,
They ache and are so sore.
And you my heart, so fierce and bold
When battling with the rain,
Now that we’re sheltering from the cold
Know that agony again.

Frühlingstraum
Dream of Spring

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

I dreamt of pretty flowers
As they bloom in spring.
I dreamt of leafy bowers
Where merry birds do sing.

But as the cock began to crow
And I opened up my eyes,
I found that it was cold and dark
With ravens in the skies.

But hasn’t someone painted leaves
There on the window pane?
Flowers in winter! You will laugh,
"Dreamer, you’re insane!”

I dreamt of love and loving
Such a pretty miss.
And then I dreamt of kissing,
And Oh, what joy, what bliss!

But when the cock began to crow
My heart saw it quite plain:
I’m sitting here all by myself,
Dreaming my dreams again.

So then I shut my two eyes fast
To make the sweet illusion last –
When will the leaves be green once more?
When will I hold her whom I adore?

Einsamkeit
Loneliness

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

Like a dull cloud
Crossing a clear sky
When some light breeze
Makes the tree-tops sigh,

So, with weary tread
I make my way
Into a world that’s bright and gay,
Unwelcome and alone.

The air’s so calm,
This world’s so fair;
Then, when storms were raging,
Pain was less hard to bear.

Die Post
The Post

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

I hear the post horn in the road.
So why, my heart, are you in a whirl?

The postman has no mail for you.
So why, my heart, do my feelings swirl?

The postman has come out from town.
Where once, my heart, I knew a girl.

So, would you like to go across,
Find news, my heart, of that dear pearl?

Der greise Kopf
Grey Head

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

The frost has powdered my hair
And made it white.
That makes me think I’m old –
And fills me with delight.

But all too soon the powder thaws.
My hair is black to my dismay;
I shudder at the thought of being young –
So, is my grave still far away?

Between the hours of dusk and dawn
Many a head turns grey - it’s true.
But unaccountably not mine,
In spite of all that I’ve been through.

Die Krähe
The Crow

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

A crow came with me
From town as I fled
And always, till today,
It flew over my head.

Crow, strange creature,
Will you leave me now?
Or will you return, d’you think,
To feed on my brow?

Well, I’ll not get much further,
Even with my stout stave –
So, won’t you be the one
Who’s loyal unto the grave?

Letzte Hoffnung
Last Hope

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

Here and there on the trees
A last bright leaf is seen.
And often by the trees I stand
To think what might have been.

I look hard at that single leaf
And pin my hopes on it
And if the wind plays on my leaf
I tremble as in a fit.

For, if that leaf falls to the ground
My hopes fall with it too,
And I collapse onto the ground,
Shed tears of bitter rue.

Im Dorfe
In the Village

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

The dogs are barking, rattling their chains,
The folk are asleep in their beds
Dreaming of thing they do not possess,
Of good and of bad, clearing their heads.

By the morning it all will have gone,
But, they will have had their due share
And have hopes of enjoying anything left
On their pillows once they’re back there.

Bark till I leave, you watchful dogs,
Don’t let me rest whilst others might sleep.
I’ve finished with dreaming, and sleepers;
So why should I their company keep?

Der stürmische Morgen
Stormy Morning

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

See how the storm has torn
The sky’s grey coat to shreds.
Scraps of cloud flutter
In weary conflict overhead.

And glowing tongues of fire
Spurt out in between –
That’s my idea of morning,
That’s exactly what I mean;

There, painted on the sky,
My heart finds its own image:
Winter in its essence,
Winter cold and savage.

Täuschung
Delusion

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

A friendly light dances before me,
I follow wherever it goes,
I follow in the full knowledge
That it’s leading me by the nose.

Anyone who’s as wretched as I am
Will gladly submit to such tricks
Which beyond the dread and freezing
night
Might reveal a house where a homely
clock ticks
And my beloved, too, still looking the
same:
Ah, sweet delusion, the name of the game!

Der Wegweiser
The Sign Post

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

Why do I keep off paths
Where other people go
And search out hidden trails
Among rocks deep in snow?

There’s nothing I have done
To make me hide my face,
So what mad craving drives me
To this deserted place.

Sign posts on every road point out
The route to town that’s best,
But I just wander endlessly
In restless search for rest.

One sign post I see standing
And unswerving I keep to its track,
For on the road I have to follow
There is no turning back.

Das Wirtshaus
The Inn

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

It was to a grave yard
My path had led;
The thought to enter
Came into my head.

The memorial wreaths
Could have been a sign
Inviting those passing
To a cool glass of wine.

Is it true in this place
The rooms are all taken?
I’m tired, fit to drop,
Desperate and forsaken!

Could you show me no pity
And just turn me away?
On goes my journey,
It’s no place to stay.

Mut
Courage

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

When the snow flies in my face
I just brush it aside.
When my heart speaks in my breast
I sing aloud with pride.

I don’t hear what it says to me,
I have no ears for that;
I don’t respond to its complaints,
It's only fools do that.

Joyfully I face the world
In the teeth of wind and rain.
And if there is no God here on Earth,
We’re gods of this domain.

Die Nebensonnen
The Three Suns

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

I saw three suns up in the sky
And long and hard I stared on high.
They stood up there so fixedly
As if loth to depart from me.

You suns, you are not mine by right!
Go, on others shed your light!
I had three suns once, truth to tell;
The best two by the wayside fell.

And if the third would only set,
I’d feel, in darkness, better yet.

Der Leiermann
The Hurdy-Gurdy Man

Winterreise A Journey into Winter

Müller

There behind the village, the hurdy-gurdy man,
All his fingers frozen, plays as best he can.
Barefoot on the ice, he is swaying to and fro,
His collecting cup is empty, save for a little snow.

No-one cares to listen or give a second glance,
Only dogs, growling at his feet, advance.
But he takes no notice, lets it pass him by,
Just turns the handle so the music doesn’t die.

Strange old man,
If I chose to come along,
Would you accompany my song?