The past in the present
(Poet's title: Im Gegenwärtigen Vergangenes)
Set by Schubert:
D 710
for quartet (TTBB) and piano[probably March 1821]
Part of Goethe: West-Östlicher Divan
Ros’ und Lilie morgentaulich
Blüht im Garten meiner Nähe,
Hintenan bebuscht und traulich
Steigt der Felsen in die Höhe!
Und mit hohem Wald umzogen
Und mit Ritterschloss gekrönet
Lenkt sich hin des Gipfels Bogen,
Bis er sich dem Tal versöhnet.
Und da duftet’s wie vor Alters,
Da wir noch von Liebe litten,
Und die Saiten meines Psalters
Mit dem Morgenstrahl sich stritten.
Wo das Jagdlied aus den Büschen
Fülle runden Tons enthauchte,
Anzufeuern, zu erfrischen
Wie’s der Busen wollt’ und brauchte.
Nun die Wälder ewig sprossen,
So ermutigt euch mit diesen,
Was ihr sonst für euch genossen
Lässt in andern sich genießen.
Niemand wird uns dann beschreien,
Dass wir’s uns alleine gönnen,
Nun in allen Lebensreihen
Müsset ihr genießen können.
Und mit diesem Lied und Wendung
Sind wir wieder bei Hafisen,
Denn es ziemt des Tags Vollendung
Mit Genießern zu genießen.
In the morning dew roses and lilies
Blossom in the garden near to me;
Behind it, covered in bushes and intimate,
The cliff climbs up towards the heights;
And surrounded by lofty woods
And crowned with a knight’s castle,
The arch of the mountain peak veers around
Until it comes to terms with the valley.
And there the smell is as it used to be
When we still suffered from love,
And the strings of my psaltery
Would compete with the rays of dawn;
Where the hunting song from the bushes
Is breathed out with full, round tones,
To set fire, to refresh,
Just as the breast desired and needed.
Since the forests are bursting forth eternally
Take courage from this,
What you used to keep for your own use
Let others take pleasure from it,
Then nobody will accuse us
Of taking it for ourselves,
Now in all stages of life
You have to be able to find enjoyment.
And with this song and turn of phrase
We have returned to Hafez,
Since it is appropriate at the close of day
To take pleasure with those who are taking pleasure.
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:
Bushes and undergrowth Castles and towers Chest / breast Courage Dew Eternity Gardens High, low and deep Hunters and hunting Lilies Morning and morning songs Mountains and cliffs Rays of light Roses and pink Smells Stringed instruments (unspecified) Valleys Woods – large woods and forests (Wald)
Goethe was 65 years old when he discovered the world of Persian poetry through reading a collection entitled Diwan des Hafis, a German translation (by the former Austrian diplomat Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall) of ghazals by Hafez of Shiraz (c. 1315 – 1390). Through one of the extraordinary acts of self-reinvention that Goethe was capable of, he proceeded to immerse himself in Sufi culture and the Persian poetic tradition to such an extent that he was soon styling himself as Hafez’s twin. By 1819 he had produced a major collection of lyrics in which the two poets address each other across the geographical and historical divide.
In this poem, Im Gegenwärtigen Vergangenes, Goethe comes across a scene which seems to represent both his own youth in Germany and also the time of Hafez in Persia, and he uses this conjunction to draw lessons about our own obligations to future generations. The text explicitly begins in the morning (with roses and lilies blooming in the early morning dew) and ends at sunset, but Goethe does not use this structure to look back on the morning of his own life with any sort of regret or sense of loss. He is not looking back at all; he is beholding everything now, in the present. Being in love, writing and performing love songs, these transitory moments are also eternal. There is no essential difference between Hafez playing a psaltery in Shiraz and Goethe writing a lyric in Frankfurt. Even more significant, this perpetual renewal of creativity ensures that there is no reason to feel loss or to conclude that the setting sun symbolises any lack of hope for tomorrow. What is fitting at the end of the day is taking pleasure alongside others rather than in competition with them.
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Original Spelling Im Gegenwärtigen Vergangenes Ros' und Lilie morgenthaulich Blüht im Garten meiner Nähe; Hintenan, bebuscht und traulich, Steigt der Felsen in die Höhe; Und mit hohem Wald umzogen, Und mit Ritterschloß gekrönet, Lenkt sich hin des Gipfels Bogen, Bis er sich dem Thal versöhnet. Und da duftet's wie vor Alters, Da wir noch von Liebe litten, Und die Saiten meines Psalters Mit dem Morgenstrahl sich stritten; Wo das Jagdlied aus den Büschen, Fülle runden Tons enthauchte, Anzufeuern, zu erfrischen Wie's der Busen wollt' und brauchte. Nun die Wälder ewig sprossen, So ermuthigt euch mit diesen, Was ihr sonst für euch genossen Läßt in andern sich genießen, Niemand wird uns dann beschreien Daß wir's uns alleine gönnen, Nun in allen Lebensreihen Müsset ihr genießen können. Und mit diesem Lied und Wendung Sind wir wieder bei Hafisen, Denn es ziemt des Tags Vollendung Mit Genießern zu genießen.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Goethe’s source, West-oestlicher Divan. von Goethe. Stuttgard, in der Cottaischen Buchhandlung 1819, pages 22-23; and with Goethe’s Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Fünfter Band. Unter des durchlauchtigsten deutschen Bundes schützenden Privilegien. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J. G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung. 1827, pages 18-19.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 22 [32 von 500] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ22342380X