Evening song
(Poet's title: Abendlied)
Set by Schubert:
D 276
[August 28, 1815]
Groß und rotentflammet schwebet
Noch die Sonn’ am Himmelsrand,
Und auf blauen Wogen bebet
Noch ihr Abglanz bis zum Strand;
Aus dem Buchenwalde hebet
Sich der Mond, und winket Ruh
Seiner Schwester Erde zu.
In geschwollnen Wolken ballet
Dunkler sich die rote Glut,
Zarter Farbenwechsel wallet
Auf der Rockenblüte Flut;
Zwischen schwanken Halmen schallet
Reger Wachteln heller Schlag,
Und der Hirte pfeift ihm nach.
Wohlgeruch entsteigt den Auen
Dort in zartgewundnem Duft,
Und die jüngsten Stauden tauen
Kühles Labsal durch die Luft;
Jedes Blümchen saugt mit lauen
Lippen und das Gräschen sinkt
Unter Perlen, die es trinkt.
Ihre Ringeltauben girren
Noch die Täuber sanft in Ruh,
Düstre Fledermäuse schwirren
Nun dem glatten Teiche zu,
Und der Käfer Scharen irren,
Und der Uhu, nun erwacht,
Ziehet heulend auf die Wacht.
Mit dem Köpfchen im Gefieder,
Schlummern unsre Sänger nun,
Es verstummen ihre Lieder,
Selbst die lauten Stare ruhn
Auf den schwanken Binsen wieder,
Nur die Nachtigall allein
Freut sich noch im Mondenschein.
Wie, auch in der Stille rege,
Mit dem Anbeginn der Nacht,
Nach der mannichfalt’gen Pflege,
Nun die Mutter ist bedacht,
Dass sie ihre Kindlein lege;
Wie sie jedes letzten Gruß
Noch belohnt mit weichem Kuss;
Also, nach des Tags Getümmel
Schaut der ew’gen Liebe Blick
Durch den sternenvollen Himmel
Auf die Erde noch zurück;
Früh vernimmt sie das Gewimmel
Der erwachten Erd’, und spät
Hört sie den, der einsam fleht.
Wenn die Nachtigallen flöten,
Hebe dich, mein Geist, empor!
Bei des jungen Tags Erröten
Neig’ o Vater, mir dein Ohr!
Von der Erde Freud’ und Nöten
Steig, o Geist, im Duft der Au!
Send, o Vater, deinen Tau!
Hovering large and ablaze with red
The sun is still at the edge of the sky,
And quivering on the blue waves,
And its reflection continues as far as the shore;
Lifting itself from the beech wood
Is the moon, which is sending a sign of restfulness
To its sister, the Earth.
Gathering in swollen clouds,
Ever darker, is the red glow;
A delicate change in the colour is spreading
Over the flood of rye blossom;
Amongst the swaying stems can be heard
The bright cry of lively quails
And the shepherd responds on his pipe.
A lovely fragrance rises over the meadows
Over there, in gently winding scent,
And the youngest shrubs are emitting
A cool refreshment through the air,
Every little blossom is sucking it up with warm
Lips and the grass is sinking
Under the pearls that it is drinking.
The wood pigeons’ mates are cooing
Still, the doves are calling them gently to rest,
Dark bats are whirling around
Now, going towards the smooth pond,
And the swarm of beetles is on the move,
And the owl, now awake,
Is going by, crying out as it keeps watch.
With their little heads tucked into their feathers,
Our singers are now asleep,
Their songs have fallen silent,
Even the loud starlings are resting
On the swaying rushes again,
It is only the nightingale
That is still enjoying itself in the moonlight.
Just as, even in silence there is animation,
With the onset of night,
After the various things that had to be dealt with,
The mother is now careful
To put her child to bed;
How with each final ‘goodnight’
She continues to give a tender kiss;
Similarly, after the turmoil of the day
The watchfulness of eternal love looks on,
Through the star-filled sky
Back down on Earth;
Early on it hears the tumult
Of the awakening Earth, and late at night
It hears him who prays alone.
When the nightingales sing,
Lift yourself up, my spirit, rise up!
As the young day turns red
Turn your ear to me, oh father!
From the Earth’s joys and necessities
Climb up, oh spirit, in the scent of the meadow!
Father, send your dew!
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Air Beech trees Beetles and other insects Birds Blue Bushes and undergrowth Clouds Dew Doves and pigeons The earth Evening and the setting sun Fields and meadows Fire Floods and tides Flowers Going to bed Grass Heaven, the sky Kissing Lips Mirrors and reflections Morning and morning songs Mother and child Night and the moon Nightingales, Philomel Owls Pearls Pipes and flutes Ponds Prayers and praying Quails Red and purple Reeds Rest Rims and edges Serenades and songs at evening Shepherds Sleep Smells Stars The sun Warbling (flöten) Waves – Woge Woods – large woods and forests (Wald)
It takes an awful long time to settle down as night falls. Although this poem is called an ‘evening song’, sunset is only the start of it. Colours change, different sounds are heard and there is a new scent in the air. Eventually some of the sounds of evening are silenced. The starlings have roosted and we now hear the sounds of night: bats, an owl, a nightingale. And so the poet brings us to the central image of the poem. Even if the child settles down in the evening and goes to sleep its mother remains busy, keeping an eye on her baby and continuing to kiss it ‘good night’. Just as this situation reflects the state of nature generally (reduced activity for the most part but nocturnal creatures keeping a look out while others rest), it also serves as an illustration of how the great Parent beyond the stars is keeping watch to ensure that we, His children, come to no harm.
The climax of the text is a prayer, in which God is asked to send down his Grace, his ‘dew’. The poet here refers back to stanza 3, where the word ‘dew’ is used as a verb: ‘die jüngsten Stauden tauen / Kühles Labsal durch die Luft’ (the youngest shrubs are dewing / A cool refreshment through the air). This fragrant juice is being sucked up by the lips of flowers and falling as heavy pearls on the grass, which is also drinking it. It is unfortunate that in 1793 Stolberg-Stolberg was not able to consult English Wikipedia, which would have given him the following warning: “Dew should not be confused with guttation, which is the process by which plants release excess water from the tips of their leaves” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew). The poet, having confused guttation with dew, describes a cycle in which a fragrant liquid is emitted from plants, rises up in currents through the air and falls to refresh other plants. He sees this as an image of God and his children, feeding us with his dew (or moistening us with his kisses as we rest, since the basic analogy is with a mother putting her baby to bed).
This image of a cycle (the dew rising and falling, being emitted and nourishing) is evoked at the beginning of the text. Stanza 1 contrasts the setting sun and the rising moon, the red sky and the blue waves, the hovering and shaking of appearances at sunset with the calm and stillness that should follow. There is a sort of relay as the moon takes over from the sun, as the shepherd pipes a tune in response to the quail’s cry; we hear pigeons, then bats, beetles and an owl. The nightingale takes over from the other songbirds and takes up its place in the bull-rushes. The poet keeps returning to these rushes (which are presumably growing at the edge of the pond, which in stanza 1 had reflected the sunset and in stanza 4 had been the destination for the bats) just as the loving mother keeps returning to the sleeping child. The final stanza takes us back to the nightingale and also to some of the language of stanza 1: ‘Wenn die Nachtigallen flöten, / Hebe dich, mein Geist, empor!’ (When the nightingales sing, / Lift yourself up, my spirit, rise up!). We recall the moon lifting itself from the beech wood as the sun sets, as well as the piping sounds referred to earlier (the quail, the shepherd and the nightingale itself) and we are encouraged to join in the cycle that is set in motion each evening.
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Original Spelling Abendlied Groß und rothentflammet schwebet Noch die Sonn' am Himmelsrand, Und auf blauen Wogen bebet Noch ihr Abglanz bis zum Strand; Aus dem Buchenwalde hebet Sich der Mond, und winket Ruh' Seiner Schwester Erde zu. In geschwollnen Wolken ballet Dunkler sich die rothe Gluth, Zarter Farbenwechsel wallet Auf der Rockenblüthe Flut; Zwischen schwanken Halmen schallet Reger Wachteln heller Schlag, Und der Hirte pfeift ihm nach. Wohlgeruch entsteigt den Auen Dort in zartgewundnem Duft, Und die jüngsten Stauden thauen Kühles Labsal durch die Luft; Jedes Blümchen saugt mit lauen Lippen und das Gräschen sinkt Unter Perlen, die es trinkt. Ihre Ringeltauben girren Noch die Täuber sanft in Ruh', Düstre Fledermäuse schwirren Nun dem glatten Teiche zu, Und der Käfer Scharen irren, Und der Uhu, nun erwacht, Ziehet heulend auf die Wacht. Mit dem Köpfchen im Gefieder, Schlummern unsre Sänger nun, Es verstummen ihre Lieder, Selbst die lauten Stahre ruhn Auf den schwanken Binsen wieder, Nur die Nachtigall allein Freut sich noch im Mondenschein. Wie, auch in der Stille rege, Mit dem Anbeginn der Nacht, Nach der mannichfalt'gen Pflege, Nun die Mutter ist bedacht, Daß sie ihre Kindlein lege; Wie sie jedes letzten Gruß Noch belohnt mit weichem Kuß; Also, nach des Tags Getümmel Schaut der ew'gen Liebe Blick Durch den sternenvollen Himmel Auf die Erde noch zurück; Früh vernimmt sie das Gewimmel Der erwachten Erd', und spät Hört sie Den, der einsam fleht. Wenn die Nachtigallen flöten, Hebe dich, mein Geist, empor! Bei des jungen Tags Erröthen Neig' o Vater, mir dein Ohr! Von der Erde Freud' und Nöthen Steig, o Geist, im Duft der Au! Send', o Vater, deinen Thau!
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte der Brüder Christian und Friedrich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg. Zweiter Theil. Wien, 1821. Im Verlage bei J.B. Wallishausser. Hamburg, bei Perthes und Besser, pages 123-125; with Gedichte der Brüder Ch. und F. L. Grafen zu Stolberg. Zweyter Theil. Neueste Auflage. Wien 1817. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 139-142; and with Taschenbuch von J.G.Jacobi und seinen Freunden für 1795. Königsberg und Leipzig, bei Friedrich Nicolovius, pages 115-118.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 139 [151 von 354] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ160626701