Grave digger's song
(Poet's title: Totengräberlied)
Set by Schubert:
D 38
trio for TTB[1813?]
D 44
[January 19, 1813]
Grabe, Spaten, grabe!
Alles, was ich habe,
Dank ich, Spaten, dir!
Reich’ und arme Leute
Werden meine Beute,
Kommen einst zu mir.
Weiland groß und edel,
Nickte dieser Schädel
Keinem Gruße Dank!
Dieses Beingerippe
Ohne Wang und Lippe
Hatte Gold und Rang.
Jener Kopf mit Haaren
War vor wenig Jahren
Schön, wie Engel sind!
Tausend junge Fäntchen
Leckten ihm das Händchen,
Gafften sich halb blind!
Grabe, Spaten, grabe!
Alles, was ich habe,
Dank ich Spaten, dir!
Reich’ und arme Leute
Werden meine Beute,
Kommen einst zu mir.
Dig, spade, dig!
Everything that I have is
Thanks to you, spade.
Rich and poor people
Fall prey to me.
They come to me in the end.
Those who used to be great and noble
This skull never nodded
A thankyou for being greeted.
This bony skeleton,
Without cheeks or lips,
Had gold and status.
This head with hair
Only a few years ago was
As beautiful as an angel.
A thousand young fools
Licked their hands for her,
Gaping until they were half blind.
Dig, spade, dig!
Everything that I have is
Thanks to you, spade.
Rich and poor people
Fall prey to me.
They come to me in the end.
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 Gold Graves and burials Hunters and hunting Songs (general) Workers and working songs
The German word ‘Beute’ (prey) is clearly related to the English word ‘booty’, the gains from a crimimal heist or a plundering expedition. We tend to think of hunters, similarly, as being active, moving around, swooping, and their prey being relatively stationary. What we probably have to imagine to make sense of the imagery in this song, though, is a hunter / thief who is using a trap. He is digging a man trap and then all he has to do is wait. Sooner or later the prey / booty will arrive and fall in of its own accord.
The grave digger relishes two major elements about his victory: the victory over status and beauty. His trap catches upper class people and brings them low. People who were so important that they did not even acknowledge the contribution of lower status people to their lives have been reduced to bare bones. People who used to pride themselves on their looks and who expected to turn a thousand heads have become hideous to behold. Thus, people whose status used to depend either on ignoring their servants or seeking the approval a superficial audience have lost their value. Only the grave digger, the maker of the man trap into which they all fall, is left to see their worth. What booty!
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Original Spelling Totengräberlied Grabe, Spaden, grabe! Alles, was ich habe, Dank' ich Spaden, dir! Reich' und arme Leute Werden meine Beute, Kommen einst zu mir! Weiland groß und edel, Nickte dieser Schädel Keinem Gruße Dank! Dieses Beingerippe Ohne Wang' und Lippe Hatte Gold und Rang. Jener Kopf mit Haaren War vor wenig Jahren Schön, wie Engel sind. Tausend junge Fentchen Leckten ihm das Händchen, Gafften sich halb blind! Grabe, Spaden, grabe! Alles, was ich habe, Dank' ich Spaden, dir! Reich' und arme Leute Werden meine Beute, Kommen einst zu mir!
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s probable source, Sammlung deutscher Beyspiele zur Bildung des Stils. Zweyter Band. WIEN, gedruckt mit Thomas Edlen von Trattnernschen Schriften. 1806. page 76; with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Besorgt durch seine Freunde Friederich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg und Johann Heinrich Voß. Hamburg, bei Carl Ernst Bohn. 1783, pages 44-45, with Poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1777. Herausgegeben von Joh. Heinr. Voß. Hamburg, bey Carl Ernst Bohn, pages 60-61, and with Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty’s Sämtliche Werke kritisch und chronologisch herausgegeben von Wilhelm Michael, Erster Band, Weimar, Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, 1914, page 195.
Note: Modern spelling would change “Spaden” to “Spaten” (line 1-1) and “Fentchen” to “Fäntchen” (line 3-4)
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 76 [82 von 262] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ159651303