Summer Evening

Text by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Set by
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), op. 85 no. 1 (1879)

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At twilight the summer evening lies
Over green fields and forest;
Golden moon in the blue sky
Shines down, hazy, fragrantly refreshing.

By the brook chirps the cricket,
And the waters are stirring,
And the wanderer hears a ripple
And a breathing in the stillness.

Yonder, alone, by the brook,
The beautiful mermaid is bathing;
Arm and neck, white and lovely,
Shimmer in the moonlight.

The Summer evening spreads twilight
Over woods and verdant meadows;
The golden moon, from the blue sky,
Casts its perfumed, refreshing light.

By the brook, crickets are chirping,
And a rippling stirs the water,
And the wand'rer hears a splashing,
And, in the stillness, a breathing.

By the brook, secluded and calm,
The beautiful nymph is bathing;
One sees glimmer in the moonlight
Her charming white neck and arm.

Translation copyright © 1996 
by Leonard Lehrman

Translated into English by Joseph Massaad