Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben

Following are my adaptations of Adelbert von Chamisso's poems as used in Robert Schumann's song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben.

1.

Seeing him has blinded me:
Wherever I look, it is only he;
his image floats before me like a waking dream,
emerging brighter and brighter out of the deepest darkness.

Everything else around me is lightless, colorless.
No longer drawn to the games of my sisters,
I would rather weep quietly in my little room.
Seeing him has blinded me.

2.

He the most glorious of all—
so gentle, so good!
Charming lips, bright eyes,
clear of mind and strong of spirit.

Shining and glorious, exalted and unreachable,
he sits in my own heavens
as clear and glorious as that star
out there in the blue depths.

Wander, wander your paths—
only to gaze at your light,
to gaze in humility
and in blissful sadness.

Do not hear this quiet prayer
devoted only to your happiness.
You may not know such a lowly girl,
you exalted star of glory.

Only the most worthy of all
may be made happy by your choice,
and I will bless that exalted one
many thousands of times.

I will be glad then and weep;
blissful, blissful I will be.
Even if my heart breaks—
break, heart! What will it matter?

He the most glorious of all—
so gentle, so good!
Charming lips, bright eyes,
clear of mind and strong of spirit.

3.

I can’t grasp it or believe it;
A dream must have entranced me.
How could he have raised and blessed me,
this poor creature, from among them all?

It seems as if he said,
“I am forever yours.”
It seems as if I am still dreaming,
for such could never be the case.

O let me die in this dream,
cradled against his breast.
Let blessed death swallow me up
in tears of endless joy.

4.

You ring on my finger,
little gold ring—all mine!
I press you devoutly to my lips
and to my heart.

I had reached the end of the
peacefully beautiful dream of childhood.
I found myself alone,
lost in a barren, endless land.

You ring on my finger,
you first taught me then.
You opened my sight
to the endless, deep value of life.

I want to serve him, live for him,
belong completely to him,
devote myself to him,
and find myself transfigured in his radiance.

You ring on my finger,
little gold ring—all mine!
I press you devoutly to my lips
and to my heart.

5.

Help me, my sisters,
kindly adorn me.
Serve the happy one today.
Keep busily winding around my brow
the ornament of blossoming myrtle.

When I would lie
contentedly and of happy heart
in my beloved’s arms,
he would still yearn
for this day impatiently,
his heart full of longing.

Help me, my sisters—
help my chase away
a foolish uneasiness,
so that I may receive him
with clear eyes—
him the source of joy.

My love, have you truly appeared?
Sun, do you grant me your light?
Let me in reverence,
let me in humility,
pay homage to my lord.

Strew flowers, my sisters—
strew flowers for him.
Present him with budding roses.
But you, my sisters,
I greet with sadness even as I
depart joyfully from your circle.

6.

Sweet friend, you look at me in astonishment.
Can you not comprehend how I could be crying?
Let the unfamiliar ornament of moist pearls
tremble with bright joy in my eyes.

How anxious my bosom is, how blissful!
If only I knew how to express it with words.
Come and bury your face here at my breast.
I want to whisper in your ear all my joy.

Now do you understand the tears I can cry?
Should you not see them, my beloved husband?
Stay at my heart, feel the beat of it,
that I may press you tighter and tighter.

Here at my bed the cradle has space
to quietly hide my sweet dream.
The morning will come when the dream awakes
and your image will smile out at me.

7.

At my heart, at my breast
you my bliss, you my joy!

Happiness is love; love, happiness.
I’ve said it and will never take it back.
I once considered myself extravagant
but am even happier now.
Only she who nurses, only she who loves
the child whom she gives nourishment—
only a mother alone knows
what it means to love and to be happy.
O how I pity however the man
who cannot feel a mother’s joy!
You dear, dear angel, you—
You look at me, and even smile.

At my heart, at my breast,
you my bliss, you my joy!

8.

Now you have hurt me for the first time,
but deeply.
Harsh, merciless man, you sleep the sleep
of death.

Abandoned, I glance around:
The world is empty, empty.
I have loved and lived; no longer am I living.

Quietly I retreat within myself;
the veil descends.
I have lost my happiness and you,
you my world.