In the open air
(Poet's title: Im Freien)
Set by Schubert:
D 880
[March 1826]
Draußen in der weiten Nacht
Steh ich wieder nun,
Ihre helle Sternenpracht
Lässt mein Herz nicht ruhn.
Tausend Arme winken mir
Süß begehrend zu,
Tausend Stimmen rufen hier:
Grüß dich, Trauter, du.
O ich weiß auch, was mich zieht,
Weiß auch, was mich ruft,
Was wie Freundes Gruß und Lied
Locket durch die Luft.
Siehst du dort das Hüttchen stehn,
Drauf der Mondschein ruht?
Durch die blanken Scheiben sehn
Augen, die mir gut.
Siehst du dort das Haus am Bach,
Das der Mond bescheint?
Unter seinem trauten Dach
Schläft mein liebster Freund.
Siehst du jenen Baum, der voll
Silberflocken flimmt?
O wie oft mein Busen schwoll,
Froher dort gestimmt!
Jedes Plätzchen, das mir winkt,
Ist ein lieber Platz,
Und wohin ein Strahl nur sinkt,
Lockt ein teurer Schatz.
Drum auch winkt mir’s überall
So begehrend hier,
Drum auch ruft es, wie der Schall
Trauter Liebe mir.
Outside in the expansive night
I am now standing here again:
The bright splendour of its stars
Will not allow my heart to rest!
A thousand arms are beckoning to me
With a sweet desire,
A thousand voices are calling here:
“Greetings to you, intimate friend!”
Oh, I know both what attracts me,
And I know what is calling me –
What it is, like the greeting and song of a friend,
That is drawing me through the air.
Can you see that little cottage standing there
On which the moonlight has settled?
Looking through the bright window panes
There are eyes that are fond of me!
Can you see that house over there by the stream
Lit up by the moon?
Under its intimate roof
My most beloved friend is asleep.
Can you see that tree that is covered in
Shimmering silver flakes?
Oh, how often my breast has swelled up
There with a feeling of greater happiness!
Every little spot that is beckoning to me
Is a dear place;
And wherever a moonbeam falls,
A valuable treasure attracts me.
Therefore everywhere I am being beckoned
With so much desire here,
Therefore I can hear the call, like the sound
Of intimate love, ringing out to me.
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:
Arms and embracing Chest / breast Eyes Friends Greetings Hearts Here and there Houses Huts Rest Rivers (Bach) Night and the moon Roofs Silver Sleep Stars Trees (general) Treasure and jewels Windows
This is someone who is standing outside who does not feel like an outsider. However, the scenario is not immediately clear. There can be little doubt, though, that the speaker has been absent for a while and has returned to the village after nightfall. It might be a sailor or a soldier returning from duty. It could be a woman who left this settlement when she got married and has never been back since. But who is s/he talking to? Why is the speaker so self-obsessed (note the frequency of the words ‘mein’, ‘mich’, ‘mir’ – my, me, to me, for me)?
The speaker is expressing a strange mixture of nostalgia and anticipation. It is as if the moment of reunion is being deliberately postponed so that all of the happy memories can be relished. Does this indicate some awareness that the anticipated return may not live up to expectations? How warm is the welcome really going to be? Things are bound to have changed while the speaker has been away and, although the people who remained are physically in the same place, they will have ‘moved on’.
All of the characters who live in this village are only seen or imagined from the outside. They are eyes that might be looking through windows, they are arms that might (or might not) be stretching out to welcome the speaker back, or they are fast asleep under a roof. They remain nameless objects of observation and never emerge as active subjects. Although the speaker longs to be taken back in, to be embraced and enclosed within their walls, s/he is perhaps hesitating to enter. Might the sense of belonging dissipate once the reality of reunion has happened? The poet could well become an outsider as a result of going in.
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Original Spelling and note on the text Im Freien Draussen in der weiten Nacht Steh' ich wieder nun: Ihre helle Sternenpracht Läßt mein Herz nicht ruhn! Tausend Arme winken mir Süßbegehrend zu, Tausend Stimmen rufen hier: »Grüß dich, Trauter , du!« O ich weiß auch, was mich zieht, Weiß auch, was mich ruft, Was wie Freundes Gruß und Lied Locket durch die Luft. Siehst du dort das Hüttchen stehn, Drauf der Mondschein ruht? Durch die blanken Scheiben sehn Augen, die mir gut! Siehst du dort das Haus am Bach, Das der Mond bescheint? Unter seinem trauten Dach Schläft mein liebster Freund. Siehst du jenen Baum, der voll Silberflocken flimmt? O wie oft mein Busen schwoll, Froher dort gestimmt! Jedes Plätzchen, das mir winkt, Ist ein lieber Platz; Und wohin ein Strahl nur sinkt, Lockt ein theurer Schatz. Drum auch winkt mir's überall So begehrend hier, Drum auch ruft es, wie der Schall Trauter Liebe mir. 1 Schubert appears to have changed Seidl's 'Schwärmer' (enthusiast) to 'Trauter' (intimate friend)
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Joh. Gabr. Seidl’s Dichtungen. Zweiter Theil. Lieder der Nacht. […] Von Johann Gabriel Seidl. Wien. Druck und Verlag von J. P. Sollinger. 1826, pages 45-46; and with Lieder der Nacht. Von Johann Gabriel Seidl. Zweite, verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage. Wien, 1851. Druck und Verlag von J. P. Sollinger’s Witwe, pages 48-49.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 45 [53 von 190] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ179729407