Flirting with love
(Poet's title: Liebeständelei)
Set by Schubert:
D 206
[May 26, 1815]
Süßes Liebchen, komm zu mir,
Tausend Küsse geb ich dir,
Sieh mich hier zu deinen Füßen!
Mädchen! deiner Lippen Glut
Gibt mir Kraft und Lebensmut,
Lass dich küssen!
Mädchen, werde doch nicht rot!
Wenn’s die Mutter auch verbot.
Sollst du alle Freuden missen?
Nur an des Geliebten Brust
Blüht des Lebens schönste Lust.
Lass dich küssen!
Liebchen, warum zierst du dich?
Höre doch, und küsse mich.
Willst du nichts von Liebe wissen?
Wogt dir nicht dein kleines Herz
Bald in Freuden, bald in Schmerz?
Lass dich küssen!
Sieh, dein Sträuben hilft dir nicht;
Schon hab ich nach Sängers Pflicht
Dir den ersten Kuss entrissen! –
Und nun sinkst du, liebewarm,
Willig selbst in meinen Arm,
Lass dich küssen!
Sweet little love! Come to me!
I shall give you a thousand kisses,
Look, here I am at your feet.
Girl, the glow of your lips
Gives me strength and the courage to live.
Let yourself be kissed!
Girl, there is no need to go red!
Even though your mother forbad it,
Does that mean you have to miss out on all joys?
Only at the beloved’s breast
Does life’s most beautiful pleasure blossom.
Let yourself be kissed!
Little love, why are you making such a fuss?
Just listen and kiss me.
Don’t you want to know anything about love?
Does not your little heart surge
Now in joy, now in pain?
Let yourself be kissed!
Look, your resistance is not helping you;
I have already used the singer’s duty
To snatch the first kiss from you! –
And now you sink down, warm with love,
Willingly, putting yourself in my arms.
Let yourself be kissed!
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 Feet Fire Flowers Hearts Joy Kissing Lips Mother and child Pain Red and purple Songs (general) Songs of triumph Sweetness Waves – Woge
He only calls her either Liebchen or Mädchen. We have no idea what her name is (or even if the speaker knows it or cares what it might be). The text books call these words ending in -chen ‘diminutives’; she is a ‘little love’ (Liebe + chen) or a ‘small maid’ (Magd + chen). In most circumstances the words are used as an expression of affection, but this can too easily (depending on the context and the relationships between the interlocutors) turn into disdain or even bullying.
The grammatical form of these words in German perhaps is part of the problem. The -chen suffix automatically gives the noun a neuter gender. The Magd (maid) might be ‘she’, but a Mädchen (a maid-en, a maidlet, a wee lassie) has to be referred to in German as ‘it’. The question arises as to whether this de-sexing is part of the process of constructing what Germaine Greer called ‘The Female Eunuch’. Has the unnamed addressee of this poem been deprived of agency and control over her own sexuality and has she been objectified by this language of seeming affection?
The repeated imperative at the end of stanzas 1, 2 and 3 reinforces the impression of the girl as passive. She is not invited to kiss the speaker but to ‘let herself be kissed’ (or even ‘have herself kissed’ or ‘get kissed’) and in the end even the poet admits that the first kiss was ‘snatched’. We know that she has some inner fire; her glowing lips excite the poet and her blushes are a sign to him that her ‘little heart’ (an example of a diminutive being used to patronise rather than to express affection, surely) is causing her to well up with surges of pleasure and pain. However, we are left having to take the poet’s word for it that her eventual submission was truly ‘willing’. He probably thinks that he knows better than this ‘little woman’ what she really wants.
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Original Spelling and note on the text Liebeständeley Süßes Liebchen! Komm zu mir! Tausend Küsse geb' ich Dir. Sieh mich hier zu Deinen Füßen. Mädchen, Deiner Lippen Gluth Giebt mir Kraft und Lebensmuth. Laß Dich küssen! Mädchen, werde doch nicht roth! Wenns die Mutter auch verbot. Sollst Du alle Freuden missen? Nur an des Geliebten Brust Blüht des Lebens schönste Lust. Laß Dich küssen! Liebchen, warum zierst Du Dich? Höre doch, und küsse mich. Willst Du nichts von Liebe wissen? Wogt Dir nicht Dein kleines Herz Bald in Freuden, bald in Schmerz? Laß Dich küssen! Sieh', Dein Sträuben hilft Dir nicht; Schon hab' ich nach Sängers Pflicht Dir den ersten Kuß entrissen! - Und nun sinkst Du liebewarm, Willig selbst in meinen Arm, Laß1 dich küssen! 1 Schubert changed 'Läßt' to 'Laß' (If only you would let yourself be kissed to Let yourself be kissed)
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Theodor Körner’s Gedichte. [Erster Theil.] Neueste Auflage. Wien 1815. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 72-73; and with Knospen von Theodor Körner. Leipzig bei Georg Joachim Göschen. 1810, pages 94-95.
To see an early version of the text, go to page 312 [Erstes Bild 382] here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10701039