Raining tears
(Poet's title: Tränenregen)
Set by Schubert:
D 795/10
[October-November 1823]
Part of Die schöne Müllerin, D 795
Wir saßen so traulich beisammen
Im kühlen Erlendach,
Wir schauten so traulich zusammen
Hinab in den rieselnden Bach.
Der Mond war auch gekommen,
Die Sternlein hinterdrein,
Und schauten so traulich zusammen
In den silbernen Spiegel hinein.
Ich sah nach keinem Monde,
Nach keinem Sternenschein,
Ich schaute nach ihrem Bilde,
Nach ihrem Auge allein.
Und sahe sie nicken und blicken
Herauf aus dem seligen Bach,
Die Blümlein am Ufer, die blauen,
Sie nickten und blickten ihr nach.
Und in den Bach versunken
Der ganze Himmel schien
Und wollte mich mit hinunter
In seine Tiefe ziehn.
Und über den Wolken und Sternen
Da rieselte munter der Bach
Und rief mit Singen und Klingen:
Geselle, Geselle, mir nach.
Da gingen die Augen mir über,
Da ward es im Spiegel so kraus,
Sie sprach: es kommt ein Regen,
Ade, ich geh nach Haus.
We were sitting so intimately next to each other
Under the cool canopy of the alder trees,
We were looking so intimately together
Down into the rippling stream.
The moon had also joined us,
With the little stars coming along behind,
And we were looking so intimately together
Down into the silver mirror.
I was not looking at any moon,
Or at any starlight,
I was looking at her image,
Just at her eye.
And I saw her bobbing and peeping
Up out of the blessed stream,
The little flowers on the river bank, the blue ones,
They bobbed and peered back at her.
And sunk in the stream
The whole sky appeared,
And it wanted me to follow it down
Pulling me into its depths.
And above the clouds and the stars
The stream rippled cheerfully on,
And it called with singing and ringing:
Mate, mate, follow me!
Then my eyes glazed over,
Then the mirror became hazy;
She said: It’s going to rain,
Bye, I’m off home.
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:
Alder trees Blue By water – river banks Clouds Eyes Farewell and leave taking Flowers Heaven, the sky High, low and deep Mills Mirrors and reflections Night and the moon Rain Rivers (Bach) Stars Surface of the water Tears and crying Under the water, sinking and drowning
All of the images that have dominated the first half of the story come together here: the water of the river, the blue flowers by the river bank, the blue eyes of the girl, the tearful eyes of the lad, the longing glances that are never reflected back in the way desired. At long last the apprentice and the miller’s girl come into physical proximity, but this only underlines the emotional distance between them. They do not look at each other, but at the reflections in the water. As the boy watches, the girl’s face flickers on the ripples. The stars and flowers (both previously associated with the girl’s eyes) shimmer on the waves, along with the blue eyes that he cannot bring himself to look into directly. The whole scene then precipitates an emotional reaction. The lad’s eyes fill with tears, which may (or may not) be why the girl says it is going to rain. This is only the second occasion on which her direct words have been reported, and both times it has been when she has been saying ‘good bye’.
Another theme recurs here for only the second time: the lure of the underwater world. In Wohin? the boy imagined that the call of the river was connected with dancing water nymphs and he showed some awareness that he was at risk of being led astray. Now, however, the call of the deep is even more enticing, though not linked with the idea of enchantment. It sounds as if the river (which has been so instrumental in guiding his life up to this point) has a more secure home waiting for him. What it is offering is the promise of heaven (we have to remember that the ‘sky’ that he sees as he looks down into the mirroring waters is also ‘heaven’ – the German word ‘Himmel’ makes no distinction between the two ideas). It is also worth recalling that Müller, the poet, was a Protestant, and that there is a tradition in Lutheran theology of accepting the need to fall into the depths (katabasis) before we can be raised to the heights. Damnation is a sort of precondition for salvation. When the miller lad sees the heavens laid out below him he sees that as the way up.
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Original Spelling and note on the text Thränenregen Wir saßen so traulich beisammen Im kühlen Erlendach, Wir schauten so traulich zusammen Hinab in den rieselnden Bach. Der Mond war auch gekommen, Die Sternlein hinterdrein, Und schauten so traulich zusammen In den silbernen Spiegel hinein. Ich sah nach keinem Monde, Nach keinem Sternenschein, Ich schaute nach ihrem Bilde, Nach ihrem Auge1 allein. Und sahe sie nicken und blicken Herauf aus dem seligen Bach, Die Blümlein am Ufer, die blauen, Sie nickten und blickten ihr nach. Und in den Bach versunken Der ganze Himmel schien, Und wollte mich mit hinunter In seine Tiefe ziehn. Und über den Wolken und Sternen Da rieselte munter der Bach, Und rief mit Singen und Klingen: Geselle, Geselle, mir nach! Da gingen die Augen mir über, Da ward es im Spiegel so kraus; Sie sprach: Es kommt ein Regen, Ade, ich geh' nach Haus. 1 Schubert appears to have changed the plural (ihren Augen - her eyes) to the singular (ihrem Auge - her eye)
Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 25-26; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 26-27.
First published in a slightly different version in Frauentaschenbuch für das Jahr 1818 von de la Motte Fouqué. Nürnberg, bei Joh. Leonh. Schrag, pages 348-349.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 24 Erstes Bild 35 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10115224