The pearl
(Poet's title: Die Perle)
Set by Schubert:
D 466
[August 1816]
Es ging ein Mann zur Frühlingszeit
Durch Busch und Felder weit und breit
Um Birke, Buch’ und Erle;
Der Bäume Grün im Maienlicht,
Die Blumen drunter sah er nicht;
Er suchte seine Perle.
Die Perle war seine höchstes Gut,
Er hatt’ um sie des Meeres Flut
Durchschifft, und viel gelitten;
Von ihr des Lebens Trost gehofft,
Im Busen sie bewahrt, und oft
Dem Räuber abgestritten.
Die sucht’ er nun mit Weh und Ach:
Da wies man ihm den hellen Bach,
Und drin die goldne Schmerle;
Nichts half der Bach im Sonnenglanz,
Im Bache nichts der Schmerlen Tanz;
Er suchte seine Perle.
Und suchen wird er immer so,
Wird nicht des Lebens werden froh,
Nicht mehr die Morgenstunden
Am purpurroten Himmel sehn;
Berg auf und nieder muss er gehn,
Bis dass er sie gefunden.
Der arme Pilger! So wie er
Geh ich zur Frühlingszeit umher,
Um Birke, Buch’ und Erle;
Des Maien Wunder seh ich nicht;
Was aber, ach! was mir gebricht,
Ist mehr als eine Perle.
Was mir gebricht, was ich verlor,
Was ich zum höchsten Gut erkor,
Ist Lieb’ in treuem Herzen.
Vergebens wall ich auf und ab;
Doch find ich einst ein kühles Grab,
Das endet alle Schmerzen.
In the spring-time a man went
Far and wide through bushes and fields,
Around birch, beech and alder trees;
The green of the trees in the May light,
The flowers under them – he did not notice them;
He was looking for his pearl.
The pearl was his greatest possession,
For it he had been on the high seas,
Sailing across the ocean, and he had suffered a great deal;
In it he had hoped to find consolation for life,
He protected it in his bosom, and he often
Fought robbers to keep hold of it.
He was looking for it now with a heavy heart:
Then he was directed to the bright river,
And within it the golden loach;
But the river in the sunlight was no help to him
Nor the dance of the loaches in the river;
He was looking for his pearl.
And he will keep on looking in the same way,
He will never take pleasure in what comes of life,
In the morning hours he will no longer
Notice the crimson sky;
He has to go up and down mountains
Until he has found it.
The poor pilgrim! Similarly, like him,
In the spring-time I wander about,
Around birch, beech and alder trees;
I do not notice the miracle of May;
But, oh, what I am lacking
Is more than a pearl.
What I am lacking, what I have lost,
What I selected as my greatest possession,
Is love in a faithful heart.
In vain I process up and down;
But there will come a time when I find a cool grave,
Which will put an end to all my agonies.
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.
☙
Themes and images in this text:
Alder trees Beech trees Birch trees Dancing Fields and meadows Fish and fishing Flowers Gold Graves and burials Green Hearts Heaven, the sky Hills and mountains Lost and found May Morning and morning songs Pain Pearls Pilgrims and pilgrimage Red and purple Rivers (Bach) The sea Spring (season) Thieves and robbers Walking and wandering
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is reported to have used the image of a valuable pearl (alongside other metaphors) to teach his followers about the importance of seeeking the kingdom of heaven:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13: 44 - 50 (King James Version)
Jacobi, who had studied Theology at Göttingen University, seems to have taken the parable of the pearl of great price as his starting point for this poem. However, the focus and the lesson to be learnt seem to be different. The quest is for fulfilment in love rather than for salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven, but what happens if, having sought our pearl and found it, it is then lost?
We begin with a third person narrative, and for a while we might think that this is the beginning of a rambling ballad in the tradition of stories about the quest for the holy grail (or a magic ring). However, the lack of details about the ‘man’ looking for his pearl (what is his name? which seas did he have to cross? how did he fight off the robbers? how did he come to lose the pearl?) soon leads us to see that his function is simply to act as a mirror for the first person persona of the poem. He (let us go along with the conventional assumption that we are reading about male experience) recognises a fellow ‘pilgrim’, someone similarly in pursuit of an unreachable goal, or rather, someone who is now totally driven by a loss or a lack.
The outward signs are unmistakeable. The beauty of nature passes him by. Morning and evening light, the miracle of May, flora and fauna, glistening brooks: none of them make any impact. They are not his pearl. We could read this on a number of levels. It is partly a poet complaining that the traditional nature-based images of lyric poetry have lost their power, or that they do not carry sufficient emotional or spiritual weight to express his meaning. Or we could interpret this lack of interest as a symptom of depression or despair. The speaker is totally disillusioned and cannot find significance in anything now that the beloved has been unfaithful (or now that he has realised that what he had believed to be true love was just an unreciprocated infatuation). Jacobi seems to write about just such a jolt (or jilt) in ‘In der Mitternacht‘ (D 464) and ‘Trauer der Liebe‘ (D 465). Or should we read the experience as being connected with the parable of ‘the pearl of great price’? The speaker is undergoing a spiritual enlightenment. The quest for romantic love has not been a success and as a result the poet is developing a new set of values. Instead of losing sensitivity in despair or depression, he is increasingly conscious of his inner pain and agony. When he states that this will come to an end in death, he might be interpreting the grave as a doorway into the kingdom of heaven.
☙
Original Spelling Die Perle Es gieng ein Mann zur Frühlingszeit Durch Busch' und Felder weit und breit Um Birke, Buch' und Erle; Der Bäume Grün im Mayenlicht, Die Blumen drunter sah er nicht; Er suchte seine Perle. Die Perle war seine höchstes Gut, Er hatt' um sie des Meeres Fluth Durchschifft, und viel gelitten; Von ihr des Lebens Trost gehofft, Im Busen sie bewahrt, und oft Dem Räuber abgestritten. Die sucht' er nun mit Weh und Ach: Da wies man ihm den hellen Bach, Und drinn die goldne Schmerle; Nichts half der Bach im Sonnenglanz, Im Bache nichts der Schmerlen Tanz; Er suchte seine Perle. Und suchen wird er immer so, Wird nicht des Lebens werden froh, Nicht mehr die Morgenstunden Am purpurrothen Himmel sehn; Berg auf und nieder muß er gehn, Bis daß er sie gefunden. Der arme Pilger! So wie er, Geh' ich zur Frühlingszeit umher Um Birke, Buch' und Erle; Des Mayen Wunder seh' ich nicht; Was aber, ach! was mir gebricht, Ist mehr als eine Perle. Was mir gebricht, was ich verlohr, Was ich zum höchsten Gut erkohr, Ist Lieb' in treuem Herzen. Vergebens wall' ich auf und ab; Doch find' ich einst ein kühles Grab, Das endet alle Schmerzen.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Gedichte von Johann Georg Jacobi. Zweyter Theil. Wien, 1816. Bey Ch. Kaulfuß & C. Armbruster (Meisterwerke deutscher Dichter und Prosaisten. Siebenzehntes Bändchen), pages 48-49; and with Auserlesene Lieder Von J. G. Jacobi; Herausgegeben von Johann Georg Schlosser. Basel, bei J. J. Thurneysen, dem Jüngern, 1784, pages 64-65.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 48 [56 von 254] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ157693100