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"Liebe Mutter, heut' Nacht heulte Regen und Wind."-- ""['s ist heute]1 der erste Mai, liebes Kind!"" "Liebe Mutter, es donnerte auf dem Brocken [oben]2!"-- ""[Lieb's]3 Kind, es waren die Hexen [droben]4.""-- "Liebe Mutter, ich möcht' keine Hexen sehn." ""[Lieb's]3 Kind, es ist wohl schon oft geschehn."" "Liebe Mutter, ob wohl im Dorf' Hexen sind?"-- ""Sie sind Dir wohl näher, mein liebes Kind.""-- "[Ach]5 Mutter, worauf fliegen die Hexen zum Berg?" ""[Lieb's]3 Kind, auf dem Rauche von [glühendem]6 Werg."" "[Ach]5 Mutter, worauf reiten die Hexen zum Spiel?" ""[Lieb's]3 Kind, sie reiten auf 'nem Besenstiel."" "[Ach]5 Mutter, ['s standen]7 gestern im Dorf' viel Besen!" ""Es sind auch viel Hexen auf'm Brocken gewesen. "" "[Ach]5 Mutter, [die Nacht hat's]8 im Schornstein geraucht!" ""[Lieb's]3 Kind, es hat einer das Werg gebraucht."" "[Ach]5 Mutter, [die]9 Nacht war Dein Besen nicht zu Haus!" ""[Lieb's]3, so war er zum Blocksberg hinaus."" "[Ach]5 Mutter, Dein Bett war leer in der Nacht!" ""Deine Mutter hat oben [auf'm Brocken]10 gewacht.""
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Willibald Alexis, "Über Balladenpoesie", in Hermes oder kritisches Jahrbuch der Literatur , Erstes Stück für das Jahr 1824, Volume XXI, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1824, pages 107-108.
1 Loewe: "Ist heute"2 Loewe: "droben"
3 Loewe: "Liebes"
4 Loewe: "oben"
5 Loewe: "Ach"
6 Loewe: "heissem"
7 Loewe: "ich sah"
8 Loewe: " 's hat gestern"
9 Loewe: "in der"
10 Loewe: "auf dem Blocksberg"
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Häring (1798 - 1871), as Willibald Alexis, no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Walpurgisnacht", op. 2 no. 3 (1824) [sung text checked 1 time]
Set in a modified version by Johannes Brahms.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Lawrence Snyder) , "Walpurgis Night", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Nuit de Walpurgis", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Notte di Valpurga", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Lawrence Snyder , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 160
"Dear Mother, the wind and rain howls tonight," - "It is the first of May, my child..." "Dear Mother, there's thunder over the Brocken." - "Dear child, there are witches up there." "Dear Mother, I don't want to see any witches." - "Dear Child, they are seen often enough." "Dear Mother, but even in town?" - "They're even closer, my child." "Dear Mother, how do they fly up to the mountain?" - "Dear Child, on the smoke from glowing flax." "Dear Mother, how do they ride to their gatherings?" - "Dear Child, they ride on broomsticks." "Dear Mother, yesterday I saw many brooms in the village." - "Here are also many witches on the Brocken." "Dear Mother, the chimney was smoking yesterday." - "Dear Child, someone needed to burn flax." "Dear Mother, last night your broom was missing." - "Dear Child, it was over the Blocksberg." "Dear Mother, your bed was empty last night." - "Your Mother was awake over the Blocksberg."
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Lawrence Snyder, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Wilhelm Häring (1798 - 1871), as Willibald Alexis, no title
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 152