Solace in tears
(Poet's title: Trost in Tränen)
Set by Schubert:
D 120
[November 30, 1814]
Part of Goethe: The second collection intended for Goethe
Wie kommt’s, dass du so traurig bist,
Da alles froh erscheint?
Man sieht dir’s an den Augen an,
Gewiss, du hast geweint.
“Und hab ich einsam auch geweint,
So ist’s mein eigen Schmerz,
Und Tränen fließen gar so süß,
Erleichtern mir das Herz.”
Die frohen Freunde laden dich,
O, komm an unsre Brust!
Und was du auch verloren hast,
Vertraue den Verlust.
“Ihr lärmt und rauscht und ahndet nicht,
Was mich, den Armen, quält.
Ach nein, verloren hab ich’s nicht,
So sehr es mir auch fehlt.”
So raffe dich denn eilig auf,
Du bist ein junges Blut.
In deinen Jahren hat man Kraft
Und zum Erwerben Mut.
“Ach nein, erwerben kann ich’s nicht,
Es steht mir gar zu fern,
Es weilt so hoch, es blinkt so schön,
Wie droben jener Stern.”
Die Sterne, die begehrt man nicht,
Man freut sich ihrer Pracht.
Und mit Entzücken blickt man auf
In jeder heitern Nacht.
“Und mit Entzücken blick ich auf
So manchen lieben Tag,
Verweinen lasst die Nächte mich,
So lang ich weinen mag.”
How has it come about that you are so sad,
When everything appears so jolly?
People look at your eyes and,
Sure enough, you have been crying.
“If I have been crying alone
That is to do with my own pain.
Since tears flow so sweetly,
They lighten my heart for me.”
Your merry friends invite you,
Come to our breast!
Whatever it is you have lost
Trust us to make it good.
“You are noisy, you rush around with no inkling
Of the torment I am going through, poor me.
Oh no, I have not lost anything
Even though I feel a terrible lack.”
Just quickly pull yourself together.
You are young, with young blood.
At your age people have the power
And courage to win.
“Oh no, I cannot succeed.
Such a goal is far too distant.
It remains so high up, it shines so beautifully,
Like that star up there.”
The stars are not there for us to desire them.
They should be enjoyed for their splendour.
With delight we should look up
When the night is so clear.
“Indeed I do look up with delight
On so many lovely days,
But leave me the nights for weeping
For as long as I have the ability to cry.”
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:
Blood Chest / breast Eyes Friends Hearts High, low and deep Lost and found Near and far Night and the moon Noise and silence Pain Stars Sweetness Tears and crying Youth
“Cheer up,” they say. Worse still, “You’re still young. You’ll get over it” or “you’ll grow out of it” or “it’s just a phase”. It’s as if people forget what it is like to be young, with all the attendant anxieties and the bitter sense of loss that growing up entails. Our peers, who might be expected to be going through something of the same trauma, seem to show no more sympathy than older people. They just add to the pressure (they now actually call it ‘peer pressure’). None of them understand.
Depending on where we grow up, or on our social background, the pressure will be different, but it will be experienced similarly (yet uniquely) by each sensitive young person. It might be parental pressure to pass exams and get ahead or peer pressure to conform to subcultural norms (fashion, body image etc.), pressure (possibly from outside as well as inside) to find a partner or an inner drive to master a skill; whatever the force to succeed or (as modern school inspection reports put it) ‘achieve’, not everyone will make it.
What is this ‘it’ that we will never make? What is the object that young people are supposed to ‘achieve’? As the young person in this dialogue points out, whatever it is, it is as unattainable as a distant star. It is all very well saying that the star is there for us to admire, but we know all too well that the objects of our admiration (we now call them our ‘role models’) can all too easily make us feel inadequate and inferior.
Why shouldn’t young people cry? There is more than enough to be upset about.
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Original Spelling Trost in Thränen Wie kommt's, daß du so traurig bist, Da alles froh erscheint? Man sieht dir's an den Augen an, Gewiß du hast geweint. "Und hab' ich einsam auch geweint, So ist's mein eigner Schmerz, Und Thränen fließen gar so süß, Erleichtern mir das Herz." Die frohen Freunde laden dich, O komm an unsre Brust! Und was du auch verloren hast, Vertraue den Verlust. "Ihr lärmt und rauscht und ahndet nicht, Was mich den Armen, quält. Ach nein, verloren hab' ich's nicht, So sehr es mir auch fehlt." So raffe dich denn eilig auf, Du bist ein junges Blut. In deinen Jahren hat man Kraft Und zum Erwerben Muth. "Ach nein, erwerben kann ich's nicht, Es steht mir gar zu fern. Es weilt so hoch, es blinkt so schön, Wie droben jener Stern." Die Sterne, die begehrt man nicht, Man freut sich ihrer Pracht, Und mit Entzücken blickt man auf In jeder heitern Nacht. "Und mit Entzücken blick ich auf, So manchen lieben Tag; Verweinen laßt die Nächte mich, So lang' ich weinen mag."
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Goethe’s sämmtliche Schriften. Siebenter Band. / Gedichte von Goethe. Erster Theil. Lyrische Gedichte. Wien, 1810. Verlegt bey Anton Strauß. In Commission bey Geistinger. pages 76-77; with Goethe’s Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 96-97, and with Taschenbuch auf das Jahr 1804, Herausgegeben von Wieland und Goethe, Tübingen, in der Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, pages 115-116.
To see an early edition of the text go to page 76 [90 von 418] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ163965701