She is in every song
(Poet's title: Sie in jedem Liede)
Set by Schubert:
D 896A
[between autumn 1827 and early 1828]
Nehm ich die Harfe,
Folgend dem Drange
Süßer Gefühle,
Denk ich auch dein.
Mädchen! und glaub, es
Können ja lange
Ohne der Harfe
Sänger nicht sein.
Wähn ich im Liede
Siedler und Klause,
Burg und Turniere
Wieder zu schaun;
Prangst mit Barett und
Starrender Krause
Du am Balkone
Zwischen den Fraun.
Preis ich der Alpen
Friedliche Lüfte,
Hoch ob des Tales
Wildem Gebraus;
Füllst du als Senninn
Trillernd die Klüfte,
Lachst aus dem kleinen,
Hölzernen Haus.
Sing ich von schönen
Wasser-Jungfrauen
Einsam in Mondschein
Schwimmend im See;
Schwebst du bei ihnen
Unten im Blauen,
Streckst mir entgegen
Arme von Schnee.
Überall nahe
Weilest du, Liebe,
Mir in der Dichtung
Rosigem Land,
Ach! nur im Leben,
Strenge und trübe,
Trennt uns des Schicksals
Feindliche Hand.
When I take my harp
Following the impulse
Of sweet feelings
I also think of you,
Maiden! and believe me that it
Is not possible to remain for long
Without a harp
For a bard.
In my songs if I imagine
People in smallholdings and cells,
Castles and tournaments
In order to present them again;
You appear resplendent in a cap and
A starched ruff,
There you are on the balcony
Amongst the ladies.
If I praise the mountains’
Peaceful breezes,
High above the valley’s
Savage turmoil,
As a milkmaid you fill
The gorges with your yodelling,
Your laughter can be heard in the small
Wooden house.
If I sing about beautiful
Water nymphs
Alone in the moonlight
Swimming in the lake;
You are floating with them
Down there in the blue,
Reaching out to me
With snow-white arms.
Everywhere you are close,
You are there, my love,
With me in poetry’s
Land of roses,
Alas, it is only in life,
So strict and bleak,
That we are separated by fate’s
Inimical hand.
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:
Arms and embracing Bards and minstrels Blue Castles and towers Fate, luck and lotteries Harps and Aeolian harps Houses Lorelei, water nymphs, mermaids etc Mountains and cliffs Night and the moon Poetry Songs (general) Valleys
Any creative artist faces this dilemma. You want to produce a wide range of work, in a variety of genres and styles. You never want to repeat yourself. Yet you also want to be true to yourself. You want everything to be authentic, to be in your own voice. Range too widely, and you are accused of producing only formulaic, ‘derivative’ pastiche; focus on your key message and you are accused of having nothing new to say, of lacking true creativity.
Here we have a poet who wants to work in a number of different genres. His first example (stanza 2) sees him playing the role of troubadour or medieval bard (a crucial mode for any poet working in early 19th century Europe). It does not matter if he is writing about the poor (those barely making a living from the land or the monks, friars and eremites who had made a vow of poverty) or the powerful (lords and ladies in castles, knights in shining armour etc.), SHE is always there. The dress might be medieval, but SHE is not.
Ballads about acts of derring do in far away places long ago do not suit every taste or every mood. The poet therefore tries his hand with a more local folksong style. As a native of Styria (Steiermark) Leitner feels the need to write about the sights and sounds of the Alpine valleys, with the bustling life of the villages down by the stream, the pastures higher up and the dairy maids whose job it was to call out and round up the cows ready for milking. There SHE is again.
Let’s try something more scary, something nocturnal, but not a ghost story. It could have been wolves (or werewolves) in the dark forest, but in the end he decided on the danger of the deep and the seductive lure of the lorelei (aka vilja, water-nymph or mermaid). Here SHE is again, stretching out her irresistible arms to pull him down and ruin him.
Perhaps it was just as well that she was only so powerfully present in his poetry, not in his life.
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Original Spelling Sie in jedem Liede Nehm' ich die Harfe, Folgend dem Drange Süßer Gefühle, Denk' ich auch Dein. Mädchen! und glaub', es Können ja lange Ohne der Harfe Sänger nicht seyn. Wähn' ich im Liede Siedler und Klause, Burg und Turniere Wieder zu schau'n; Prangst mit Barett und Starrender Krause Du am Balkone Zwischen den Frau'n. Preis' ich der Alpen Friedliche Lüfte, Hoch ob des Thales Wildem Gebraus; Füllst du als Senninn Trillernd die Klüfte, Lachst aus dem kleinen, Hölzernen Haus. Sing' ich von schönen Wasser-Jungfrauen Einsam in Mondschein Schwimmend im See; Schwebst du bey ihnen Unten im Blauen, Streckst mir entgegen Arme von Schnee. Ueberall nahe Weilest, du Liebe, Mir in der Dichtung Rosigem Land', Ach, nur im Leben, Strenge und trübe, Trennt uns des Schicksal's Feindliche Hand.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Gedichte von Carl Gottfried Ritter von Leitner. Wien, gedruckt bey J. P. Sollinger. 1825, pages 160-162; and with Gedichte von Karl Gottfried Ritter v. Leitner. Zweite sehr vermehrte Auflage. Hannover. Victor Lohse. 1857, pages 102-103.
Note: Schubert only sketched an outline of the vocal part of this song, but did neither write a title nor underlay any text. Reinhard van Hoorickx identified the poem set by Schubert and suggested a completion of Schubert’s fragment.
To see an early version of the text, go to page 160 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10113663