Laughing and crying
(Poet's title: Lachen und Weinen)
Set by Schubert:
D 777
[probably 1823]
Lachen und Weinen zu jeglicher Stunde
Ruht bei der Lieb auf so mancherlei Grunde.
Morgens lacht’ ich vor Lust;
Und warum ich nun weine
Bei des Abendes Scheine,
Ist mir selb’ nicht bewusst.
Weinen und Lachen zu jeglicher Stunde
Ruht bei der Lieb auf so mancherlei Grunde.
Abends weint’ ich vor Schmerz;
Und warum du erwachen
Kannst am Morgen mit Lachen,
Muss ich dich fragen, o Herz.
Laughing and crying at any time
Is based on such a variety of causes when you are in love.
In the mornings I laughed with pleasure;
And why I am now crying
In the evening light
Is something that even I cannot understand.
Crying and laughing at any time
Is based on such a variety of causes when you are in love.
In the evenings I cried with pain;
And why you can wake up
Laughing in the morning
Is something I have to ask you, my heart.
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:
Evening and the setting sun Hearts Laughing Morning and morning songs Pain Tears and crying Waking up
Laughing and crying are literally infantile behaviours. The process of growing up and socialising is a process of learning to repress our instinctive urges to wail and sob when things go wrong or to giggle and hoot when we are amused. There is a time and a place for everything, we are told. Indulging in ‘temper tantrums’ will no longer allow us to get our own way after a certain age. We need to learn to be ‘even-tempered’.
Then we fall in love, and we lose control all over again. We veer between the extremes that we have been trying to avoid for so long. What used to be called ‘tantrums’ are now termed ‘mood swings’. We almost certainly feel lower when down and higher when not as a reaction against the previous moderation we have imposed on ourselves. This is what it is to be ‘head over heels’ in love. Everything is topsy turvy, and we are in no position to understand what is going on.
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Original Spelling Lachen und Weinen Lachen und Weinen zu jeglicher Stunde Ruht bei der Lieb' auf so mancherlei Grunde. Morgens lacht' ich vor Lust; Und warum ich nun weine Bei des Abendes Scheine, Ist mir selb' nicht bewußt. Weinen und Lachen zu jeglicher Stunde Ruht bei der Lieb' auf so mancherlei Grunde. Abends weint' ich vor Schmerz; Und warum du erwachen Kannst am Morgen mit Lachen, Muß ich dich fragen, o Herz.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Oestliche Rosen von Friedrich Rückert. Drei Lesen. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. 1822, page 132; and with Gesammelte Gedichte von Friedrich Rückert.Vierter Band. Erlangen, Verlag von Carl Heyder. 1837, page 111.
Note: The poem was first published 1822 in Rückert’s Oestliche Rosen where all the poems have no titles. In subsequent editions (Erlangen, 1837: Gesammelte Gedichte, Frankfurt a. M., 1868: Gesammelte Poetische Werke) this poem got the title Lachens und Weinens Grund.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 132 [Erstes Bild 140] here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10117423