By the window
(Poet's title: Am Fenster)
Set by Schubert:
D 878
[March 1826]
Ihr lieben Mauern, hold und traut,
Die ihr mich kühl umschließt
Und silberglänzend niederschaut,
Wenn droben Vollmond ist.
Ihr saht mich einst so traurig da,
Mein Haupt auf schlaffer Hand,
Als ich in mir allein mich sah,
Und keiner mich verstand.
Jetzt brach ein ander Licht heran:
Die Trauerzeit ist um:
Und manche ziehn mit mir die Bahn
Durch’s Lebensheiligtum.
Sie raubt der Zufall ewig nie
Aus meinem treuen Sinn,
In tiefster Seele trag’ ich sie,
Da reicht kein Zufall hin.
Du Mauer wähnst mich trüb wie einst,
Das ist die stille Freud;
Wenn du vom Mondlicht widerscheinst,
Wird mir die Brust so weit.
An jedem Fenster wähn ich dann
Ein Freundeshaupt, gesenkt,
Das auch so schaut zum Himmel an,
Das auch so meiner denkt.
You beloved walls, beautiful and intimate,
Which enclose me in a cool way
And look down glowing with silver
When the full moon is up above:
You once saw me so sad here,
My head on my weary hand, –
When all I saw inside myself was me,
And nobody understood me.
Now a different light has appeared:
The time of mourning has passed:
And a number of others have joined me on the course
Through life’s sanctuary.
No accident will ever tear them away
From my faithful mind:
I carry them in the depths of my soul,
Where no accident can reach them.
Wall, you imagine that I am as gloomy as I used to be,
Because this is a quiet joy;
When you are reflected in the moonlight
My breast opens up.
I then imagine that at each window
There is a friend’s head, bent over,
Which is also looking up to heaven,
Which is also thinking of me!
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Chest / breast Friends Hands Heads Heaven, the sky High, low and deep Joy Mirrors and reflections Night and the moon Nuns, monks and monasteries Silver Soul Windows
The speaker is by a window looking out at moonlit external walls which enclose him. Since there are other windows with friends looking out in a similar way, we have to conclude that we are in either a prison or a monastery. The ‘new light’ which has transformed the poet’s attitude to life might be some sort of moral rehabilitation (if we are in a prison) or (more likely) a type of religious conversion that has come about through membership of an enclosed order. It may be that Seidl wrote the text intending Schubert to set it as a sort of male version of Die junge Nonne (D 828). There may have been a conscious intention to provide a companion piece for Der Wanderer an den Mond (D 870), with the two Seidl texts presenting different characters (one in motion and one immobile) reflecting on the moon. Unfortunately, not enough is known about how the poet and composer worked together, so all of this remains speculation.
We are given a few clues about the nature of the transformation that the speaker has gone through since he first looked through this window onto these walls. He arrived at a time of sorrow or mourning, and (he says) he was interested only in himself. He was different from the others around him, who (he claims) did not understand him. He wants us to accept that his thoughts are now focused on others, that he experiences a ‘quiet joy’ in his role of guiding those who have joined him on his inner journey. He is perhaps the abbot or the prior now. However, the final line of the poem betrays him. His interest in the novices or disciples is probably not as selfless as he wants to portray. When he thinks about them, each at the window of his own cell looking up to the moon, what he imagines is not their own spiritual health. What he imagines is that they are all thinking about him. This is the extent of the progress he has made – from simple self-pity to thinking about himself as the object of others’ concern. He started out as someone that nobody else understood, but instead of trying to understand others he seems to have worked on making these new friends understand him. It is still always about him.
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Original Spelling and notes on the task Am Fenster Ihr lieben Mauern, hold1 und traut, Die ihr mich kühl umschließt, Und silberglänzend2 niederschaut, Wenn droben Vollmond ist: Ihr saht mich einst so traurig da, Mein Haupt auf schlaffer Hand, - Als ich in mir allein mich sah, Und keiner mich verstand. Jetzt brach ein ander Licht heran: Die Trauerzeit ist um: Und manche ziehn mit mir die Bahn Durch's Lebensheiligthum. Sie raubt der Zufall ewig nie Aus meinem treuen Sinn: In tiefster Seele trag' ich sie, - Da reicht kein Zufall hin. Du Mauer wähnst mich trüb' wie einst Das ist die stille Freud'; Wenn du vom Mondlicht wiederscheinst, Wird mir die Brust so weit. An jedem Fenster wähn' ich dann Ein Freundeshaupt, gesenkt, Das auch so schaut zum Himmel an, Das3 auch so meiner denkt! 1 Schubert changed 'sanft' (gentle) to 'hold' (beauteous) 2 Schubert changed 'silberglänzig' (as if glowing with silver) to 'silberglänzend' (glowing with silver) 3 Schubert changed 'Und' (And) to 'Das' (Which)
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Joh. Gabr. Seidl’s Dichtungen. Zweiter Theil. Lieder der Nacht. […] Von Johann Gabriel Seidl. Wien. Druck und Verlag von J. P. Sollinger. 1826, pages 5-6; with Lieder der Nacht. Von Johann Gabriel Seidl. Zweite, verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage. Wien, 1851. Druck und Verlag von J. P. Sollinger’s Witwe, pages 10-11; and with Joh. Gabr. Seidl’s gesammelte Schriften. Mit einer Einleitung von Julius von der Traun. Herausgegeben von Hans Max. Erster Band. […] Wien, 1877. Wilhelm Braumüller k.k. Hof- und Universitätsbuchhändler, page 25.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 5 [13 von 190] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ179729407