Last hope
(Poet's title: Letzte Hoffnung)
Set by Schubert:
D 911/16
[October 1827]
Part of Winterreise, D 911
Hie und da ist an den Bäumen
Manches bunte Blatt zu sehn,
Und ich bleibe vor den Bäumen
Oftmals in Gedanken stehn.
Schaue nach dem einen Blatte,
Hänge meine Hoffnung dran,
Spielt der Wind mit meinem Blatte,
Zittr’ ich, was ich zittern kann.
Ach, und fällt das Blatt zu Boden,
Fällt mit ihm die Hoffnung ab,
Fall ich selber mit zu Boden,
Wein auf meiner Hoffnung Grab.
On the trees here and there
A few bright leaves can still be seen,
And I remain in front of the trees
Standing there in thought very often.
I watch a single leaf,
As if my hope depended upon it;
If the wind plays with my leaf,
I tremble as much as I possibly can.
Alas, and if the leaf falls to the ground,
My hope falls down along with it,
I myself fall with it down to the ground,
I am weeping on the grave of my hope.
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:
Graves and burials Hope Journeys Leaves and foliage Tears and crying Trees (general) Wind Winter
To lose hope is, by etymological definition, to despair (Latin: de – sperare, to hope). In traditional Christian theology this was usually considered to be sinful, since it seemed to involve a deliberate rejection of the grace and salvation that God had made available. Yet it is difficult to read the traveller’s story of waiting for the last leaf to fall from the tree as a psychological or spiritual acceptance of total despair.
It all depends on that last, dangling leaf. The poet chooses the words carefully: ‘Schaue nach dem einen Blatte, / Hänge meine Hoffnung dran’ (‘I watch a single leaf, /As if my hope depended upon it’, or ‘my hope were hanging on it’). What exactly is this last hope of his? Is it that the leaf will NOT fall, and that this will signify that he himself will remain attached to the world and life (his ‘tree’)? Or is it that he wants it to fall, that he is looking forward to the liberation that this will symbolise? Whichever of these two readings we choose (or if we try to hold on to both at the same time), the fact is that he is hoping for something. He is not in despair.
This is one of the mysteries explored in Winterreise: that longing for death is still longing. Someone deliberately choosing death or oblivion probably does so out of hope rather than despair. Later, in ‘Das Wirtshaus‘, the traveller will have to deal with the unwelcome prospect of not being able to die. He will have to keep going on without the prospect of the grave as a destination. He will then have to live without hope. However, he is not yet at that point. He is still relishing the prospect of weeping over ‘the grave of his dreams’.
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To listen to a radio discussion about the concept of ‘hope’, go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00017vl
On leaf fall: https://www.hunker.com/13428838/why-do-some-trees-lose-their-leaves-faster-than-others
On leaves not falling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcescence
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Original Spelling and notes on the text Letzte Hoffnung Hie und da1 ist an den Bäumen Manches bunte Blatt2 zu sehn, Und ich bleibe vor den Bäumen Oftmals in Gedanken stehn. Schaue nach dem einen Blatte, Hänge meine Hoffnung dran; Spielt der Wind mit meinem Blatte, Zittr' ich, was ich zittern kann. Ach, und fällt das Blatt zu Boden, Fällt mit ihm die Hoffnung ab, Fall' ich selber mit zu Boden, Wein' auf meiner Hoffnung Grab. 1 Schubert changed 'Hier und da' to 'Hie und da' (no essential change of meaning) 2 Schubert changed 'Noch ein buntes Blatt' (still one colourful leaf) to (a few colourful leaves)
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Zweites Bändchen. Deßau 1824. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, page 93; and with Deutsche Blätter für Poesie, Litteratur, Kunst und Theater. Herausgegeben von Karl Schall und Karl von Holtei. Breslau 1823, bei Graß, Barth und Comp. No. XLI. 13. März 1823, page 161.
First published in Deutsche Blätter (see above) as no. 2 of the installment of Die Winterreise. Lieder von Wilhelm Müller.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 93 Erstes Bild 107 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10115225