The following song facts and translation (see translation resource) is provided by German teacher Bernd Hendricks, author of "Ach ich fühl's - German for Opera Singers in Three Acts: Studying, Speaking, Singing" which is currently available here on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Ach-ich-fühls-Studying-Speaking/dp/1312463457/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413880914&sr=8-1&keywords=Ach+ich+fühl%27s+German+for+Opera+Singers
Mr. Hendricks also has a blog with helpful information on German repertoire at https://achichfuehls.wordpress.com
In 1834, Felix Mendelssohn set into music a poem by the romantic Heinrich Heine, called ?Auf Flügeln
des Gesanges.? Heinrich Heine was already a renowned poet when he published this poem seven years earlier in his first poetry collection, ?Buch der Lieder? (book of songs). The book was the ultimate expression of a new style in poetry that was less distinguishable from folk songs than previous styles. It stood out in its simplicity.
?Auf Flügeln des Gesanges? weaves together images of love and music through the most important aspects of German grammar.
Grammar is a complicated machinery, but a master like Heinrich Heine could use all its possibilities to create a simple poem, a jewel of language.
The following translation and additional information (see song facts) is provided by German teacher Bernd Hendricks, author of "Ach ich fühl's - German for Opera Singers in Three Acts: Studying, Speaking, Singing" which is currently available here on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Ach-ich-fühls-Studying-Speaking/dp/1312463457/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413880914&sr=8-1&keywords=Ach+ich+fühl%27s+German+for+Opera+Singers
Mr. Hendricks also has a blog with helpful information on German repertoire at https://achichfuehls.wordpress.com
Vocabulary, first stanza:
die Flügel (pl.) = wings
der Gesang = the singing, song (but not ?the? song)
das Herzliebchen = little sweetheart (Herzliebe = sweetheart, the ending -chen makes it small, diminuitive)
der Flur, pl: die Fluren = meadow
der Ganges = (great river in Asia with religious significance to Hindus)
wissen = to know (ich weiß, du weißt, wir wissen etc.)
der Ort = place
In the first four lines, we already encounter all four cases of the German language. A case describes the role a noun plays in a sentence. If the role changes, the article has to change accordingly (der > den, dem, or des; die > der; das > dem or des, plural die > den, der).
Auf Flügeln des Gesanges,
Herzliebchen, trag' ich dich fort,
Fort nach den Fluren des Ganges,
Dort weiß ich den schönsten Ort.
On wings of song,
Little sweetheart I carry you away,
Away to the meadows of the Ganges
There I know the most beautiful place
(beautiful = schön, superlative = schönster Ort)
Vocabulary, second stanza:
liegen = to lie, here: to be situated
rot = red, blühen = bloom, blossom, here compound word: rotblühend,
probably refering to a garden of red flax
der Mondenschein = moonlight
die Lotusblume = lotus flower
erwarten = to expect
traut (old), today: vertraut = close, intimate
das Schwesterlein = little sister; the ending -lein creates a diminuitive like the ending -chen.
(You also can say Schwesterchen.)
Dort liegt ein rotblühender Garten
Im stillen Mondenschein;
Die Lotosblumen erwarten
Ihr trautes Schwesterlein.
There lies a red and blooming garden
In the quiet moonlight;
The lotus flowers expect
Their close little sister.
Vocabulary, third stanza:
die Veilchen = violet flower
kichern = to giggle
kosen = to fond
schauen = to look, to gaze
der Stern, pl.: die Sterne, dative: den Sternen = the star, stars
empor = up
heimlich = secretly
erzählen = to tell
duften = to scent, duftend = fragrant
das Märchen = fairy tale
das Ohr = ear
The word ?sich? in the fourth line signifies something reflexive: Die Rosen erzählen duftende Märchen ins Ohr. To whom? To each other, thus, sie erzählen sich ?
Die Veilchen kichern und kosen,
Und schaun nach den Sternen empor;
Heimlich erzählen die Rosen
Sich duftende Märchen ins Ohr.
The violets giggle and fond,
And gaze up at the stars;
Secretly, the roses tell,
fragrant fairy tales into each other's ear
Vocabulary, fourth stanza:
hüpfen = to hop, to bounce
herbei = adverb indicating a movement towards the place of reference
lauschen = to listen intensively
fromm = pious
klug = intelligent
die Gazelle = gazelle
die Ferne = distance
rauschen = to whoosh, to rustle
heilig = holy, der Strom = die Welle, pl.: die Wellen = the wave
Heine does something interesting with the gazelles and the waves. He puts them at the very end of the thought and places their activities, the verbs (hüpfen, lauschen, and rauschen) at the beginning. It is possible to do that by using the pronoun ?es? in the beginning. In line 4 we see the old-fashioned ?poet's genitive? implying possession: des heiligen Stromes Wellen. Today we would say, ?die Wellen des heiligen Stromes.?
Es hüpfen herbei und lauschen
Die frommen, klugen Gazell'n;
Und in der Ferne rauschen
Des heiligen Stromes Well'n.
Hopping and listening
the pious, smart gazelles come together (= herbei)
In the distance are whooshing
the sacred river's waves
Vocabulary, fifth stanza:
wollen = to want
niedersinken = here: to lay down
unter = under
der Palmenbaum = palm tree
die Ruhe = rest
träumen = to dream
selig = blessed
In its structure and grammar, the last stanza is the simplest of the poem:
Dort wollen wir niedersinken
Unter dem Palmenbaum,
Und Liebe und Ruhe trinken,
Und träumen seligen Traum.
There we will lay down
Under the palm tree
And drink love and rest
And dream a blissful dream.