SCHUBERT and Muller/Roven

People who know me know i have this passion for serious music translated into English.
Of course, only translations by...well... me! OR at least someone good.

So here's the latest:

Wintereisse Or The Winter Journey

Translated and adapted into English by me.

Anyone who wants a score, just ask.

Trust me, the audiences will ENJOY hearing it in English. (ask David Poutney!)

G

The Winter Journey

Poems by Wilhelm Muller
Adapted and translated into English by
Glen Roven

BOOK ONE


1. GOOD BYE

I came here as a stranger
And now I realize
I’ll leave here as a stranger
Although I've known your sighs.

I've heard you whisper songs of love
With love-light in your eyes.
But now I know those songs of love
Were cold, embroid'red lies.

And so, I walk this winter road,
The moon to make me wise.
She makes me walk this winter road
Beneath her frozen skies.

I'm on this bitter journey
In silence, on my own.
I make this bitter journey
Too often all alone.

The snow white trees surround me.
The winds begin to moan.
The silences confound me;
The ice begins to groan.

I did not chose this sorry road
Although I've always known
I'm bound to walk this sorry road.
From stone to stone to stone.

Why should I want to stay here
With people whom I know
Despised me for I've stayed here?
And so, I chose to go,



To go and find a greater love,
And bask in her warm glow.
I'll find myself a greater love,
A sweeter love and so

I walk in to this starless night
And come upon a doe
Who's also in this starless night
But dancing in the snow.

It's silent as I steal away.
Sweet heaven knows I'm right
To hurry past and steal away
And leave this cheerless sight.

I'll think of you forever,
My glorious delight.
I'll think of you forever
But walk into the white.

I won't disturb your dreaming.
I'll try with all my might
To not disturb your dreaming
By whispering good night.

Good night, by love, Good night.

II. THE WEATHER VANE

The West wind keeps the weather-vane spinning.
The East wind blows it round again.
How could I’ve known in the beginning
The wind loves mocking foolish men.

I’m sorry it took me so long to discover
My woman was fickle as the breeze.
She wants me; she doesn’t. Oh why is she like
The wind that’s blowing in the trees?

The weather-vanes spinning high above me
While my lover’s warm inside.
I see know she never will love me
For she’ll become a rich man’s bride.



The winds grow cold and as they’re blowing
Hear how they sing but cut like a knife.
With ev’ryone around you’s knowing
This fool, your fool will soon be going.
You will be a rich man’s wife.


III. ICE UPON MY FACE

When ice upon my face
All too suddenly appears
Somehow at once I realize
The ice is from my tears.

I'm crying.
See me crying.
I wish to God I knew
That all my tears, my teardrops
Would freeze like morning dew.

Because my tears come from my heart
Which burns with pure desire,
I thought my tears could melt the snow
And set the world on fire.


The ice upon my face makes me
Feel so cold inside.
Your heart is ice
And now I know
You've frozen the tears I've cried.

IV. Numbness

I search the fields in vain for
Her footprints in the snow.
I'm looking for the road that we
Walked not days ago.

And when the freezing rain
Forms a frozen path, I know
I'll never find that road
We walked not so long ago.



I want to kiss the ground
Where the flowers used to grow.
And have my burning tears
Melt the frozen wasteland, The earth below.

There's not a blade of grass now
Throughout the countryside.
There's not a trace of green here.
The flowers all have died.

I've nothing to remind me
Of what I had with her,
I can't seem to remember.
Oh, did it all occur?

My memories are frozen
And in my heart they'll stay.
But if my frozen heart thaws
I fear her mem'ry will melt away.

My memories are frozen
And in my heart they'll stay.
But if my frozen heart thaws I fear
Her face will melt a way,
Will melt away.




V. THE LINDEN
You see beside your garden
There stands a Linden tree.
I've dreamed there in its shadows.
Its shade protecting me.

I carved into the tree trunk
My poetry for you,
Just like a foolish schoolboy,
So young, without a clue.

But now, I have to pass it
And in the dead of night,
I close my eyes in sorrow
To shield it from my sight.


The rustling of the branches
Seemed calling out to me,
"Stay here beneath my branches.
Find peace beneath the tree."

The winter air was bitter.
The night was cold and black.
The wind then blew my hat off
But I could not look back.

And I'm far from the Linden
I think I always knew
The peace found 'neath the Linden
Was peace I'd share with you.

I still can hear the rustling
It tells me what I knew
The peace found 'neath the Linden was
Peace I'd share with you.
A peace I'd share with you.

VI. FLOODING
See my tears and see how they're dropping,
Raining, staining virgin snow.
Crying for hours on end without stopping.
See how my tears melt ice below.
See them burn the ice below.

When the earth begins it's warming,
When the snow begins to melt,
When the ice has ceased from forming
I'll still feel the pain I felt.
I'll still feel the pain I felt.

See the snow's becoming a river.
Tell me river where you flow?
Can I hope that you will deliver
All my tears to where ever go?
Take my tears where ever you go.


See the river's tossing, churning,
Racing quickly, white with foam.
When my tears in the river start burning,
That's when the river's reached my sweet love's home.
That's when the river's reached my lover's home.




VII. ON THE RIVER
River, you rushed and thundered,
With many tales to tell.
But now you’re calm and silent
And never said, "Farewell."

Oh, river you seem lifeless,
Disguised with frosted ice.
Your thunder's turned to stillness.
You offer no advice.

And on your icy surface
My lover's name I write.
I carve the day and hour
And celebrate the night,

The night of our first meeting.
The day I went away
Is also carved beneath it
And there the two will stay.

My heart is in this river.
Its image down below
And underneath the ice
Does a torrent also flow?
Oh, I know it does. I know.
In my heart, I know it’s so.




VIII. LOOKING BACK
I feel my soles’ consumed by fire
Although there's snow beneath my feet.
Still I won't rest until each spire
Has faded and my trek's complete.

I trip and stumble as I'm racing
Away from this abhorrent town.
The crows themselves seem to be chasing
Me, throwing ice to knock me down.

Not long ago the town was singing
A very diff'rnt song for me.
The steeple bells seemed to be ringing
For us alone. While ev'ry tree

Was blooming for our very pleasure.
The Lindens sweetened ev'ry field.
But then you blinked, my precious treasure.
I knew at once my fate was sealed.

And now I try not to remember.
I try not to remember when
She wanted me. Now, in December.
I pray to see her once again.

Oh, yes I try not to remember
I'd stand outside her door and when
I think about us last September,
I wish that I were there again.

And when I think about September.
I pray I could be there again.
I pray I could be there again.


IX. APPARITION
Now I know some apparition's
Led me to this grievous spot.
Beaten down into submission,
I'm so tired; it matter's not.

I've been cursed with endless travel.
Ev'ry road leads towards one goal,
Where my joys and pain unravel.
Where a ghost controls my soul.

Now, I'm crippled with emotion
As I walk, I'm still your slave.
Ev'ry river finds its ocean.
E'vry sorrow finds a grave.






X. REST
I feel at once how tired I am
And all because I'm stopping.
Till now, I didn't give a damn.
My heart kept me from dropping.

My poor feet didn't need a rest.
My mind has kept me walking,
Though winds were beating at my breast
And cold kept me from talking.

I find my shelter in a shack
And still my back is aching.
Christ, see how both my feet are black
And both my hands are shaking.

My heart has also braved the storm.
It chose the road I'm taking.
And only now, inside and warm I
t feels the pain of breaking.


XI. THE DREAM OF SPRINGTIME
I dreamt of the perfumed flowers
That covered the meadows in May.
I dreamt that the snow white song-birds were
Singing their love songs all day,

But then when I awakened
All beauty disappeared.
Just freezing winds embraced me
While roosters and screech-owls sneered.

But there, outside your window,
I swear I saw flowers grow.
Yes, right there by your window,
Grew lilies. I know. I know.
Go on laugh at the man who saw
Lilies bloom in the snow.


I dreamt of a love who loved me,
An angel from above.
My soul-mate, my companion,
Who'll want to return my love.

But now the rooster's crowing
And all at once it seems
I'm left here now with nothing
Except my pathetic dreams.

I fear I have to dream
If I ever hope to see
The flowers that bloom in winter,
Or hearts so young and free.
Oh, do I have to be dreaming to know
That you still will love me?

XII. Loneliness

See how a snow white cloud floats
So calmly through the sky
And feel the temp'rate breeze
As it gently passes by.

Now, see the way I travel,
So bitter, wracked with pain.
Despite, the world's great pleasures
This ache beats on my brain.

Although the skies are calm now
And storms have been assuaged.
I've never felt so wretched
As if the storms still, the storms still raged.