Voice of love
(Poet's title: Stimme der Liebe)
Set by Schubert:
D 412
[April 1816]
Meine Selinde! denn mit Engelsstimme
Singt die Liebe mir zu: sie wird die Deine!
Sie wird die Meine! Himmel und Erde schwinden!
Meine Selinde!
Tränen der Sehnsucht, die auf blassen Wangen
Bebten, fallen herab als Freudentränen;
Denn mir tönt die himmlische Stimme, deine
Wird sie, die Deine.
My Selinde! Since with the voice of an angel
Love is singing to me: she is going to be yours!
She is going to be mine! Heaven and Earth disappear!
My Selinde!
Tears of longing which dropped onto pale cheeks and
Quivered there are now falling off as tears of joy!
For the heavenly voice has spoken to me: yours!
She is going to be yours!
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:
Angels Cheeks Heaven, the sky Joy Longing and yearning Tears and crying Voices
It would be interesting to know whether or not the ‘angelic’ or ‘heavenly’ voice was that of Selinde herself. Has she just made an explicit declaration (or accepted a formal proposal) or is the speaker over-interpreting some more covert gesture or hint? Is he just relying on a rumour or a mutual friend’s gossip?
Let us hope that his relishing of the possessive pronouns (mine, yours) does not turn into possessiveness itself.
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Original Spelling and note on the text
Stimme der Liebe
Meine Selinde! denn mit Engelsstimme
Singt die Liebe mir zu: sie wird die Deine!
Sie wird die Meine1! Himmel und Erde schwinden!
Meine Selinde!
Thränen der Sehnsucht, die auf blassen Wangen
Bebten, fallen herab als Freudenthränen!
Denn mir tönt die himmlische Stimme: deine
Wird sie! die Deine!
1 Stolberg wrote 'Wird die Meine'. Schubert added the pronoun 'sie' (she).
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte der Brüder Christian und Friedrich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg. herausgegeben von Heinrich Christian Boie. Leipzig, in der Weygandschen Buchhandlung. 1779, page 90; and with Poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1777. Herausgegeben von Joh. Heinr. Voß. Hamburg, bey Carl Ernst Bohn, page 130.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 59 [69 von 238] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ160626609