AGMSL001 Lob des Leidens (Op.15, No.3)
| 0 schmäht des Lebens Leiden nicht! Seht ihr die Blätter, wenn sie sterben, Sich in des Herbstes goldenem Licht Nicht reicher, als im Frühling färben? Was gleicht der Blüte des Vergehens Im Hauche des Oktoberwehens? Krystallner als die klarste Flut Erglänzt des Auges Tränen quelle, Tief dunkler flammt die Abendglut, Als hoch am Tag die Sonnenhelle, Und keiner küßt so heißen Kuß, Als wer für ewig scheiden muß. |
Oh, do not scorn hfe's sorrows! Do you not see that in autumn's golden light Dying leaves take on richer colours Than in the spring? What can be compared to the bloom of decay In the breath of october's breezes? Clearer than the purest water Is the sparkle oftear-moistened eyes, The twilight glow burns much more deeply Than the brightness of the midday sun, And no-one kisses with such burning lips As he who must depart forever. |
The text of Lob des Leidens is by Adolf Friedrich von Schack
(1815-94), an aristocratic figure best remembered today as the
founder of the Schack art gallery in Munich. Although in praise
of suffering, the poem is largely positive in tone. However, Strauss
chooses to linger over the poem's autumnal sentiments, creating
an inspired study in melancholy. He also largely disregards the
two-stanza form of the poem, preferring instead an extended arch
structure which builds up from nothing to a momentous climax
shortly before the dose.