Loving in secret
(Poet's title: Heimliches Lieben)
Set by Schubert:
D 922
[September 1827]
O du, wenn deine Lippen mich berühren,
So will die Lust die Seele mir entführen,
Ich fühle tief ein namenloses Beben
Den Busen heben.
Mein Auge flammt, Glut schwebt auf meinen Wangen,
Es schlägt mein Herz ein unbekannt Verlangen,
Mein Geist, verirrt in trunkner Lippen Stammeln,
Kann kaum sich sammeln.
Mein Leben hängt in einer solchen Stunde
An Deinem süßen, rosenweichen Munde
Und will bei deinem trauten Armumfassen
Mich fast verlassen.
O dass es doch nicht außer sich kann fliehen,
Die Seele ganz in deiner Seele glühen,
Dass doch die Lippen, die vor Sehnsucht brennen,
Sich müssen trennen,
Dass doch im Kuss mein Wesen nicht zerfließet,
Wenn es so fest an deinen Mund sich schließet,
Und an dein Herz, das niemals laut darf wagen,
Für mich zu schlagen.
Oh, when your lips touch me,
That is when my soul is carried away with pleasure;
Deep down I feel a nameless stirring
As my breast heaves.
My eye blazes, a glow appears on my cheeks,
My heart beats with an unknown longing,
My spirit, led astray by the stammering of my drunken lips,
Can hardly collect itself.
At such a time my life depends
On your sweet mouth, soft as a rose,
And as your arms embrace me intimately my life
Almost wants to leave me.
Oh! how awful that my life cannot escape from itself,
My whole soul is aglow in your soul!
How awful that these lips, which are burning with longing,
Have to separate!
May my being not melt in kisses
When it locks itself so firmly onto your mouth,
And onto your heart, which can never openly dare
To beat for 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:
Arms and embracing Cheeks Chest / breast Eyes Hearts Kissing Lips Longing and yearning Mouths Soul Sweetness
By definition, we cannot know very much about a secret passion. We do not know who is speaking to whom. Myrtil, the original addressee, was probably a pseudonym. We do not even know the gender of the two people. Although the poet was female that does not mean that the persona in the text is necessarily a woman. When Schubert was given the text to set to music by Marie Pachler it appears they both believed it was by the Graz poet Karl Gottfried von Leitner. Gender roles and expectations are probably significant in a text like this, where we have to work out why one of the lovers could not declare their passion openly. How much touching, kissing and embracing actually went on? Who took the initiative?
There is a strong possibility, of course, that the object of the writer’s passion never came anywhere near the writer’s body, that the whole thing is a fantasy of what might be said to the beloved in other circumstances. The ecstasy is so total and the emotion so overwhelming that it has all the hallmarks of unreciprocated or undeclared desire. Readers are certainly more likely to respond sympathetically to what sounds like a declaration of impossible or forbidden passion than to a simple declaration of the bliss of fulfilment.
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Original Spelling and notes on the text Heimliches Lieben O du1, wenn deine Lippen mich berühren, So2 will die Lust die Seele mir entführen; Ich fühle tief ein namenloses Beben3 Den Busen heben. Mein Auge flammt, Gluth schwebt auf meinen Wangen, Es schlägt mein Herz ein unbekannt Verlangen, Mein Geist, verirrt in trunkner Lippen Stammeln Kann kaum sich sammeln. Mein Leben hängt in einer solchen Stunde An Deinem süßen rosenweichen Munde, Und will bei deinem trauten Armumfassen Mich fast verlassen. O! daß es doch nicht ausser sich kann fliehen, Die Seele ganz in deine Seele glühen! Daß doch die Lippen, die vor4 Sehnsucht brennen Sich müssen trennen! Daß doch im Kuß mein Wesen nicht zerfliesset Wenn es so fest an deinen Mund sich schliesset, Und an dein Herz, das niemals5 laut darf wagen Für mich zu schlagen! 1 Schubert changed 'Myrtil' (Myrtle) to 'O du' (Oh you) 2 Schubert changed 'Dann' (Then) to 'So' (Therefore) 3 Schubert changed 'Ich fühl´ ein sanftes namenloses Beben' (I feel a gentle nameless stirring) to 'Ich fühle tief ein namenloses Beben' (Deep down I feel a nameless stirring) 4 Schubert changed 'voll' (full of longing) to 'vor' (with longing) 5 Schubert changed 'nimmer' to 'niemals' (no essential change of meaning)
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte von C. L. v. Klenke, geb. Karschin. Berlin, 1788, pages 193-194.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 193 [223] – 193 here: http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0000547900000000
Note: First published anonymously in a different version, with the title Myrtil, in Iris. Dritter Band. Düsseldorf 1775:
Mirtill! wenn deine Lippen mich berühren,
Dann will die Lust die Seele mir entführen;
Ich fühl’ ein sanftes, namenloses Beben
Den Busen heben.
Mein Auge flammt, und meine Wangen glühen,
Mein Herze schlägt, und scheint empor zu fliehen,
Die Seele weiß auf trunkner Lippen Stammeln
Sich kaum zu sammeln.
Mein Leben hängt, in einer solchen Stunde,
An deinem feurig nektarvollen Munde,
Und will, bey deinem trauten Armumfassen,
Mich fast verlassen.
O daß es sich nicht ausser sich kann schwingen,
Die Seele ganz in deine Seele dringen!
Daß doch die Lippen, die voll Sehnsucht brennen,
Sich müssen trennen!
Daß meine Seele nicht der Orcus fodert,
Wenn sie voll Gluth auf deinen Lippen lodert,
An deinem Herzen hängt, das nie auf Erden
Darf meine werden!
Myrtle, when your lips touch me,
That is when my soul is carried away with pleasure;
Deep down I feel a nameless stirring
As my breast heaves.
My eye blazes, and my cheeks glow,
My heart beats, and appears to fly upwards,
Because of the stammering of my drunken lips my soul barely knows
How to collect itself.
At such a time my life depends
On your fiery, nectar-filled mouth,
And as your arms embrace me intimately my life
Almost wants to leave me.
Oh! how awful that my life cannot fly out of itself,
My whole soul is forcing itself in your soul!
How awful that these lips, which are burning with longing,
Have to separate!
May Orcus never demand my soul
When it locks itself onto your lips with such fire,
And onto your heart, which on Earth can never
Be mine!
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Iris. Des Dritten Bandes zweytes Stück. Düsseldorf, May 1775, pages 104-105; and with Lyrische Anthologie. herausgegeben von Friedrich Matthisson. Eilfter Theil. Zürich 1805. bey Orell Füssli und Compagnie, pages 283-284, with the title Sapphisches Lied.