Dream of Spring (translation of “Frühlingstraum” by Wilhelm Müller from Schubert’s “Winterreise” song cycle)
I dreamt about vivid flowers,
That blossom and shimmer in May;
I dreamt about forests and meadows,
And chattersome birdsong melee
And chattersome birdsong melee.
But as the dawn was breaking,
My eyes were opened up wide;
Still cold and dark in my shelter,
But ravens were cawing outside.
Still cold and dark in that shelter,
The ravens were cawing outside.
But, verdant, at the window,
Those fronds still intertwined.
So verdant, at the window,
Still green shoots intertwined.
Have pity upon the dreamer,
To illusion to be consigned,
To illusion to thus be consigned.
I dreamt about sweet devotion,
Two eyes that twinkled so bright;
Of kissing and caressing,
And rapturous carefree delight,
And rapturous carefree delight.
But as the dawn was breaking,
My heart was opened up wide;
I lie here all forsaken
As waking and dream collide
He sits here now forsaken
As waking and dream collide.
I fall once more to slumbering,
Cocooned here in my den.
He falls once more to slumbering,
Cocooned there in his den.
As tendrils twine at the window,
I embrace my sweetheart again
Enclasps his sweetheart again.
English verse translation © Thomas Beavitt 2017
