The girl from abroad
(Poet's title: Das Mädchen aus der Fremde)
Set by Schubert:
D 117
[October 16, 1814]
D 252
[August 12, 1815]
In einem Tal bei armen Hirten
Erschien mit jedem jungen Jahr,
Sobald die ersten Lerchen schwirrten,
Ein Mädchen, schön und wunderbar.
Sie war nicht in dem Tal geboren,
Man wusste nicht, woher sie kam,
Doch schnell war ihre Spur verloren,
Sobald das Mädchen Abschied nahm.
Beseligend war ihre Nähe
Und alle Herzen wurden weit,
Doch eine Würde, eine Höhe
Entfernte die Vertraulichkeit.
Sie brachte Blumen mit und Früchte,
Gereift auf einer andern Flur,
In einem andern Sonnenlichte,
In einer glücklichern Natur;
Und teilte jedem eine Gabe,
Dem Früchte, jenem Blumen aus,
Der Jüngling und der Greis am Stabe,
Ein jeder ging beschenkt nach Haus.
Willkommen waren alle Gäste,
Doch nahte sich ein liebend Paar,
Dem reichte sie der Gaben beste,
Der Blumen allerschönste dar.
In a valley, amongst poor shepherds,
There appeared, every time the year was young,
As soon as the first larks trilled,
A beautiful and wonderful girl.
She was not born in the valley.
People did not know where she came from,
But all trace of her was quickly lost
As soon as the girl took her leave.
Being near her made people blissfully happy
And all hearts opened up to her,
Yet there was a dignity and a height
That prevented familiarity.
She brought flowers and fruit with her
That had ripened elsewhere,
Where the sunlight was different,
Where nature bestowed more fortune;
And she shared a gift with everyone,
Handing out fruit to some and flowers to others.
Whether you were young or old with a stick,
Each of you went home with a gift.
All guests were welcome
But if a loving couple approached
She held out the best offerings,
The most beautiful of the flowers.
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:
Farewell and leave taking Fields and meadows Flowers Fruit Hearts High, low and deep Larks Light Shepherds Spring (season) Strangers Valleys Walking sticks (Wanderstab) Youth
The annual arrival of this beautiful anonymous girl when the year is young leads us to think in allegorical terms. She must be Spring personified, or Persephone / Proserpine released from Hades to be re-united with her mother, the fertility goddess Demeter / Ceres (as in ‘Klage der Ceres’, another Schiller text, set by Schubert a couple of years later, D 323). However, this does not fit. She does not just bring flowers and the prospect of a harvest to come; she is also the bearer of out-of-season fruits that have already been ripened in alien sunlight.
She is a regular visitor but she will never be a local or ‘familiar’. She is always an outsider. She comes into a valley and expands the outlook of an enclosed community (in contrast to their physical setting, their hearts are ‘widened’). The conventions of the pastoral tradition are challenged. The shepherds are not presented as living a carefree life cut off from the rest of the world. Quite the opposite, their happiness rises when an alien comes amongst them and makes them aware of other ways of living, places where fruition comes earlier than in their colder and higher (and presumably more northern) environment.
Even old grey beards on sticks are open to her influence, challenging the common assumption that they will all be stuck in their ways and hostile to outsiders. Perhaps even more remarkable is that it is young couples in love that receive her best gifts. Such couples are often so absorbed in each other and their youth that they might find it particularly difficult to open themselves up to strangers.
Schiller’s text is therefore about an alien who makes natives happier, a migrant who comes to give rather than to take. She seems to be an asylum provider rather than an asylum seeker. She has not come to claim benefits; we will all benefit from her presence amongst us.
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Original Spelling Das Mädchen aus der Fremde In einem Thal bei armen Hirten Erschien mit jedem jungen Jahr, Sobald die ersten Lerchen schwirrten, Ein Mädchen, schön und wunderbar. Sie war nicht in dem Thal geboren, Man wußte nicht, woher sie kam, Doch schnell war ihre Spur verloren, Sobald das Mädchen Abschied nahm. Beseligend war ihre Nähe Und alle Herzen wurden weit, Doch eine Würde, eine Höhe Entfernte die Vertraulichkeit. Sie brachte Blumen mit und Früchte, Gereift auf einer andern Flur, In einem andern Sonnenlichte, In einer glücklichern Natur. Und theilte jedem eine Gabe, Dem Früchte, jenem Blumen aus, Der Jüngling und der Greis am Stabe, Ein jeder ging beschenkt nach Haus. Willkommen waren alle Gäste, Doch nahte sich ein liebend Paar, Dem reichte sie der Gaben beste, Der Blumen allerschönste dar.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Friedrich Schillers sämmtliche Werke. Neunter Band. Enthält: Gedichte. Erster Theil. Wien, 1810. In Commission bey Anton Doll. [korrigierter Druck] pages 7-8; with Gedichte von Friederich Schiller, Erster Theil, Leipzig, 1800, bey Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius, pages 3-4, and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1797, herausgegeben von Schiller. Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaischen Buchhandlung, pages 17-18.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 7 [13 von 292] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ207858202