The miller and the little river
(Poet's title: Der Müller und der Bach)
Set by Schubert:
D 795/19
[October-November 1823]
Part of Die schöne Müllerin, D 795
Der Müller.
Wo ein treues Herze
In Liebe vergeht,
Da welken die Lilien
Auf jedem Beet.
Da muss in die Wolken
Der Vollmond gehn,
Damit seine Tränen
Die Menschen nicht sehn.
Da halten die Englein
Die Augen sich zu,
Und schluchzen und singen
Die Seele zur Ruh.
Der Bach.
Und wenn sich die Liebe
Dem Schmerz entringt,
Ein Sternlein, ein neues,
Am Himmel erblinkt.
Da springen drei Rosen,
Halb rot und halb weiß,
Die welken nicht wieder,
Aus Dornenreis.
Und die Engelein schneiden
Die Flügel sich ab
Und gehn alle Morgen
Zur Erde herab.
Der Müller.
Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,
Du meinst es so gut,
Ach, Bächlein, aber weißt du,
Wie Liebe tut?
Ach, unten, da unten,
Die kühle Ruh,
Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,
So singe nur zu.
The miller.
Wherever a faithful heart
Dies of love,
The lilies wither
On all the flower-beds.
The clouds then have to cover
The full moon as it hides behind them
So that its tears
Cannot be seen by humans.
Then the little angels put
Their hands over their eyes,
And they sob and sing
The soul to sleep.
The little river.
And when love
Wrestles itself free from the suffering,
A little star, a new one,
Starts shining in the sky.
Then three roses spring up,
Half red and half white,
Which never fade again,
Sprouting from thorny twigs.
And the little angels cut
Their wings off,
And every morning they
Go down to earth.
The miller.
Oh, little brook, dear little brook,
You have such good intentions:
Oh, little brook, but do you know
What love does?
Oh, down, down there,
Cool rest!
Oh, little brook, dear little brook,
Carry on singing like that.
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:
Angels Clouds Eyes Hearts Lilies Mills Morning and morning songs Night and the moon Red and purple Rivers (Bach) Rivers (Bächlein) Roses and pink Soul Stars Tears and crying Thorns and pricking Under the water, sinking and drowning White Wings
“Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein / Du meinst es so gut” is an echo of “Ei, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein, / War es also gemeint?” at the end of ‘Halt!‘, and the first stanza of ‘Danksagung an den Bach‘:
War es also gemeint,
Mein rauschender Freund,
Dein Singen, dein Klingen,
War es also gemeint?
Is this how it was meant to be,
My babbling friend,
Your singing, your ringing,
Is this what it meant?
Early in the story the young man is unsure about whether or not the little river is speaking to him directly, and (if it is) what its message means. Is the babbling of the brook a song intended for him personally? Does it have specific plans for him? (The verb ‘meinen’ has elements of both ‘meaning’ and ‘intention’). Now, as the story concludes, he has no such doubts. So certain is he of the significance of the river’s song that he provides its exact words. He presents himself as the river’s mouthpiece, though readers and listeners can have little doubt that he is ‘hearing voices’. We might conclude that he is experiencing some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, and we are confident that what we are hearing is the young man’s inner world, not the intended meaning of an inanimate river.
Since the poem corresponds to the text of what contemporary opera composers would have called a ‘mad scene’ we should not be worrying too much about the coherence of what is being uttered. Although it might be possible to envisage the full moon going behind a cloud out of a concern to avoid its tears being visible, it is less easy to picture angels holding their hands over their eyes, let alone cutting their wings off before they descend to earth. The main point is surely that while the personal tragedy is reflected in nature (lilies wither, darkness covers the earth etc) there is also a spiritual transformation which points to some sort of resurrection: a new star appears in the sky, new flowers sprout even from a thorn bush.
The three (why three?) new flowers introduce something new to the whole cycle. Hitherto the colour palette has been deliberately limited: black and white, blue and green. Now red appears for the first time. These new roses (which will never fade) are half white, half red, so they could be seen as pink. Since the German word for ‘pink’ is ‘rose’ and in earlier versions of Die schöne Müllerin the name of the miller girl was ‘Rose’, there seems to be some idea that the girl’s beauty is guaranteed to survive. Indeed it will blossom anew as a result of the suffering of the miller (perhaps symbolised by the thorns from which the flowers emerge).
Only the new star and the new roses ‘rise’ in the course of this text. Everything else descends: lilies wither, angels descend to earth, and the young miller responds to what he hears as the call of the deep:
Ach, unten, da unten,
Die kühle Ruh’!
Oh, down, down there,
Cool rest!
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Original Spelling Der Müller und der Bach Der Müller. Wo ein treues Herze In Liebe vergeht, Da welken die Lilien Auf jedem Beet. Da muß in die Wolken Der Vollmond gehn, Damit seine Thränen Die Menschen nicht sehn. Da halten die Englein Die Augen sich zu, Und schluchzen und singen Die Seele zur Ruh'. Der Bach. Und wenn sich die Liebe Dem Schmerz entringt, Ein Sternlein, ein neues, Am Himmel erblinkt. Da springen drei Rosen, Halb roth und halb weiß, Die welken nicht wieder, Aus Dornenreis. Und die Engelein schneiden Die Flügel sich ab, Und gehn alle Morgen Zur Erde herab. Der Müller. Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein, Du meinst es so gut: Ach, Bächlein, aber weißt du, Wie Liebe thut? Ach, unten, da unten, Die kühle Ruh'! Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein, So singe nur zu.
Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 43-44; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 45-46.
First published in a different version in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Zweiter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1818. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Montag den 8. Juni. 91stes Blatt, page 363.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 45 Erstes Bild 55 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10115224