Love-rush
(Poet's title: Liebesrausch)
Set by Schubert:
D 164
[March 1815]
D 179
[April 8, 1815]
Dir, Mädchen, schlägt mit leisem Beben
Mein Herz voll Treu und Liebe zu.
In dir, in dir versinkt mein Streben,
Mein schönstes Ziel bist du!
Dein Name nur in heil’gen Tönen
Hat meine kühne Brust gefüllt,
Im Glanz des Guten und des Schönen
Strahlt mir dein hohes Bild.
Die Liebe sprosst aus zarten Keimen,
Und ihre Blüten welken nie!
Du, Mädchen, lebst in meinen Träumen
Mit süßer Harmonie.
Begeist’rung rauscht auf mich hernieder,
Kühn greif ich in die Saiten ein,
Und alle meine schönsten Lieder,
Sie nennen dich allein.
Mein Himmel glüht in deinen Blicken,
An deiner Brust mein Paradies.
Ach! alle Reize, die dich schmücken,
Sie sind so hold, so süß.
Es wogt die Brust in Freud’ und Schmerzen,
Nur eine Sehnsucht lebt in mir,
Nur ein Gedanke hier im Herzen:
Der ew’ge Drang nach dir.
Because of you, girl, there is a gentle tremor
In my heart, full of devotion and love.
In you, in you my striving is absorbed,
You are my most beautiful goal!
In sacred tones your name alone
Has filled my bold breast;
Glowing with goodness and beauty,
Your lofty image shines down on me.
Love sprouts out of tender seeds
And its blossoms never fade!
You, girl, live in my dreams
With sweet harmony.
Excitement bursts through into me,
I boldly grasp the strings
And all my most beautiful songs
Name only you.
My sky glows in your glances,
My Paradise is at your breast.
Oh, all the charms which adorn you
They are so magnificent, so sweet.
My breast wells up with joy and pain,
But only one longing lives in me,
Only one thought here in my heart:
The eternal drive towards you.
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:
Chest / breast Dreams Earthquakes Eternity Fire Flowers Gazes, glimpses and glances Harmony Hearts Heaven, the sky Joy Longing and yearning Names Pain Pictures and paintings Seeds Songs (general) Striving Sweetness Treasure and jewels Waves – Woge
‘For you’ (dir). This is where the text begins and ends. The poet offers it all ‘to you, girl’. He claims that his breast is filled with her name and that all his most beautiful songs name her. It is therefore slightly odd that her name is not uttered. Perhaps the teenage poet hoped that the reader would fill in a suitable name to make the text resonate.
Her name is connected with sound (‘sacred tones’, ‘sweet harmony’, ‘my most beautiful songs’), the thought of her leads him to feel other types of wave (‘a gentle tremor’, ‘bursts of excitement’, ‘the welling up of joy and pain’) and her image shines down on him, glowing with goodness and beauty. Even taste (‘sweet’) and smell (‘blossoms that will never wilt’) are hinted at to complete the sensory surge.
The beloved is seen as the goal (rather than the origin or the cause) of the poet’s love. This is developed in the image of the seed; the plant is moving towards its goal of producing a flower. Once the blossom has appeared everything stops (similar to the declaration in stanza 1 that the beloved absorbs all the poet’s striving). The plant has an inner drive (‘Drang’), as has the poet.
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Original Spelling Liebesrausch Dir, Mädchen, schlägt mit leisem Beben Mein Herz voll Treu und Liebe zu. In Dir, in Dir versinkt mein Streben, Mein schönstes Ziel bist Du! Dein Name nur in heil'gen Tönen Hat meine kühne Brust gefüllt, Im Glanz des Guten und des Schönen Strahlt mir Dein hohes Bild. Die Liebe sproßt aus zarten Keimen, Und ihre Blüthen welken nie! Du, Mädchen, lebst in meinen Träumen Mit süßer Harmonie. Begeist'rung rauscht auf mich hernieder, Kühn greif ich in die Saiten ein, Und alle meine schönsten Lieder, Sie nennen Dich allein. Mein Himmel glüht in Deinen Blicken, An Deiner Brust mein Paradies. Ach, alle Reitze, die Dich schmücken, Sie sind so hold, so süß. Es wogt die Brust in Freud' und Schmerzen, Nur eine Sehnsucht lebt in mir, Nur ein Gedanke hier im Herzen: Der ew'ge Drang nach Dir.
Confirmed with Knospen von Theodor Körner. Leipzig bei Georg Joachim Göschen. 1810, pages 104-105; and with Theodor Körner’s Gedichte. [Erster Theil.] Neueste Auflage. Wien 1815. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 79-80.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 315 [Erstes Bild 385] here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10701039