Lied: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings "Song of the imprisoned huntsman"

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Gerald Moore, piano

The "Song of the imprisoned huntsman" is the last from "Das Fräulein vom See - Ein Gedicht in sechs Gesängen" by Walter Scott.

Song of the imprisoned huntsman
English translation by: Sir Walter Scott

My horse is so weary of his stall;
my hawk is so tired of perch and hood;
my idle greyhound spurns his food,
and I am sick of this tower’s solitude.

I wish I were as I have been before;
hunting the hart is truly in my nature,
with bloodhound free and bow drawn:
yes, I favour such a life.

I hate the drowsy chime of the steeple clock,
I care not to see how time passes
as, inch by inch along the wall,
the sunbeams crawl so slowly.

Once the lark would herald the morning,
and the dark rook sing me to rest.
In the kingly halls of this castle
I can find nowhere that pleases me.

At early morning, when the lark’s song echoes,
I do not sun myself in Ellen’s eyes;
nor do I pursue the fleet deer through the forest
and return home with the evening dew.

No joyful welcome rings in my ears,
I cannot lay my catch at her feet;
no more will evening float past in bliss.
Love and life are lost.