Old love never rusts
(Poet's title: Alte Liebe rostet nie)
Set by Schubert:
D 477
[September 1816]
Alte Liebe rostet nie,
Hört´ ich oft die Mutter sagen,
Alte Liebe rostet nie,
Muss ich nun erfahrend klagen.
Wie die Luft umgibt sie mich,
Die ich einst die Meine nannte;
Die ich liebte ritterlich,
Die mich in die Ferne sandte.
Seit die Holde ich verlor,
Hab’ ich Meer und Land gesehen.
Vor der schönsten Frauen Flor
Durft´ ich unerschüttert stehen.
Denn aus mir ihr Bildnis trat,
Zörnend wie zum Kampf mit ihnen.
Mit dem Zauber, den sie hat,
Musste sie das Spiel gewinnen.
Da der Garten, dort das Haus,
Wo wir oft so traulich kosten;
Seh ich recht? sie schwebt heraus:
Wird die alte Liebe rosten?
Old love never rusts,
I often heard my mother say;
Old love never rusts,
I now have to lament this fact, having experienced it.
She surrounds me like the air,
She whom I once called mine,
She whom I loved chivalrously,
She who sent me far away.
Since I lost the beauteous one
I have seen a number of seas and countries –
In front of the bloom of the most beautiful women
I could only stand unmoved:
For her image stepped out from inside me,
It was furious, as if wanting to do battle with them;
With the magic that she had
She had to win the game.
There is the garden, over there the house,
Where we often dallied so intimately!
Can I trust my eyes? She is emerging, as if floating,
Will this old love rust?
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:
Air Anger and other strong emotions Flowers Flying, soaring and gliding Games and play Gardens Houses Journeys Laments, elegies and mourning Lost and found Magic and enchantment Mother and child Near and far Pictures and paintings Red and purple The sea War, battles and fighting
There is an element of human curiosity which leads most readers to try to find the key to a poem like this in the author’s personal experience. Who was this first love who rejected Mayrhofer and sent him ‘into the distance’? What was it about her that meant that he was totally unmoved in the presence of the most beautiful women elsewhere? In what way did ‘she’ engage ‘them’ in battle? Why was she so angry? What was the relationship between ‘her’ and the poet’s image (or memory) of her? Was there any objective reality beyond the way he allowed himself to be subject to his image of her?
Yet we can be fairly certain that these are the wrong questions to ask here. The poem cannot be autobiographical in the most basic sense simply because Mayrhofer was not someone who ever travelled abroad (‘Hab’ ich Meer und Land gesehen’ / I have seen a number of seas and countries). His world was restricted to the region between Styria and Vienna, and there is no evidence that he ever saw the sea, let alone sailed across it . He, Johann Mayrhofer (probably in his mid 20s when he wrote this), is not the persona of the poem. It is therefore not worth looking for an early love who was the object of his courtly attentions or speculating about her identity. Even Graham Johnson’s suggestion that the love being described is somehow connected with Mayrhofer’s inability to break away from his smother-mother seems misplaced. We are just dealing with art rather than life.
Nevertheless, there is enough basic human experience here for most of us to be able to identify with the situation. Most of us have battled with our inability to get over an early infatuation or passion. Many of our relationships in later life run into problems because of previous attachments and expectations which prevent us from engaging with people as they are, or rather we find that there is a ‘third person’ getting in the way. This ‘floating image’ which emerges from our own psyche (‘aus mir ihr Bildnis trat’ / her image stepped out from inside me) is often angry and hostile.
It is also remarkably persistent. It does not fade; we retain the full force of the passion we first felt. This sort of old love cannot be tarnished; it is inert. As the poet puts it, it does not rust.
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Original Spelling and note on the text Alte Liebe rostet nie Alte Liebe rostet nie, Hört ich oft die Mutter sagen; Alte Liebe rostet nie, Muß ich nun erfahrend klagen. Wie die Luft umgibt sie mich, Die ich einst die Meine nannte, Die ich liebte ritterlich, Die mich in die Ferne sandte. Seit die Holde ich verlor, Hab' ich Meer und Land gesehen, - Vor der schönsten Frauen Flor Durft ich unerschüttert stehen: Denn aus mir ihr Bildnis trat, Zörnend, wie zum Kampf mit ihnen; Mit dem Zauber, den sie hat, Mußte sie das Spiel gewinnen. Da der Garten, dort das Haus, Wo wir oft so traulich kosten! Seh' ich recht? sie schwebt heraus - Wird die alte Liebe rosten? When this poem was printed in the posthumous (1843) edition of Mayrhofer's works (with the title 'Alte Liebe'), the wording was different (shown in bold. Schubert may have worked from an earlier version of the text, he may have made the changes himself or he might have worked with the poet to change the wording in the course of composition. Alte Liebe Alte Liebe rostet nicht, Hört' ich oft die Mutter sagen; Alte Liebe rostet nicht, Muß ich nun erfahrend klagen. Wie die Luft umgibt sie mich, Die ich einst mein eigen nannte, Der ich lebte ritterlich, Die mich in die Weite sandte. Seit die Holde ich verlor, Hab' ich Meer und Land gesehen, - Vor dem schönsten Frauenflor Durft' ich unerschüttert stehen. Denn ihr Bild trat vor den Geist, Zürnend halb und halb voll Milde, - Und was irgend Zauber heißt Wich beschämt dem lieben Bilde. Hier der Garten, dort das Haus, Wo wir einst so traulich kos'ten! Seh' ich recht? sie schwebt heraus - Wird die alte Liebe rosten?
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 98 [118 von 320] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ17745080X