On the compassionate suffering of Mary
(Poet's title: Vom Mitleiden Mariä)
Set by Schubert:
D 632
[December 1818]
Als bei dem Kreuz Maria stand,
Weh über Weh ihr Herz empfand
Und Schmerzen über Schmerzen;
Das ganze Leiden Christi stand
Gedruckt in ihrem Herzen.
Sie ihren Sohn muss bleich und tot
Und überall von Wunden rot
Am Kreuze leiden sehen.
Gedenk, wie dieser bittre Tod
Zu Herzen ihr musst gehen.
In Christi Haupt durch Bein und Hirn,
Durch Augen, Ohren, durch die Stirn
Viel scharfe Dornen stachen;
Dem Sohn die Dornen Haupt und Hirn,
Das Herz der Mutter brachen.
When Mary stood by the cross
Her heart experienced woe upon woe,
And agony upon agony:
The whole of Christ’s suffering was
Stamped into her heart.
She had to see her son pale and dead,
And covered with red wounds everywhere,
She had to watch him suffer on the cross.
Think how this bitter death
Must have gone into her heart!
On Christ’s head, through his bone and brain,
Through his eyes, ears, through his forehead
Many sharp thorns stabbed him;
The thorns broke the son’s head and brain
And they broke the mother’s 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:
Blood Bones and skeletons The cross and crucifixes Ears Eyes Hearts Mother and child Pain Thorns and pricking Virgin Mary Wounds
Schubert seems to have found this text in Friedrich Schlegel’s Poetisches Tagebuch für das Jahr 1806, where it is explained that it is an adaptation of a 17th century poem by Friedrich Spee. It would have been clear to both Schubert and Schlegel (who was in the process of converting to Roman Catholicism at the time the Almanac was published) that both texts ultimately derive from the 13th century ‘Stabat mater dolorosa’.
The tradition of meditating on Mary’s suffering as she watched her son die ultimately goes back to the prediction of Simeon, speaking to Mary when the infant Jesus was presented at the Temple (Luke 2: 34 – 35): “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against; (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” In Spee’s poem the sword that pierced Mary’s soul is the spear which pierced Christ’s side. The physical and metaphorical suffering come together in the process of ‘compassion’ or (in German) ‘Mitleid’:
| German | English | Greek | Latin |
| mit | with / together | συμ sym | com- |
| Leid | suffering | πάθος pathos | pati |
| Mitleid | compassion / sympathy | συμπάθεια sympatheia | compassio |
In Schlegel’s shorter version it is the crown of thorns which pierced Christ’s flesh that manages to ‘break’ Mary’s heart.
Pious Christians have meditated on Mary’s suffering at the foot of the cross, and Catholics have prayed to her, primarily on the basis that she might show compassion with THEIR suffering. The mother who is sharing the agony of her dying son is also someone who can understand what it is for other mothers to lose their children, what it is to feel powerless when loved ones are in pain.
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Friedrich Spee’s version of the Stabat Mater:
Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591 – 1635), Von unser lieben Frawen mit Leiden, 1623
Von Mariae MitLeyden
1. O Hertz/ O du betrübtes Hertz/
Wie groß/ wie groß dein wehe vnd schmertz/
Was hastu Hertz gelitten?
O schwerd/ daß durch Mariæ Hertz/
Hindurch vnd durch geschnitten.
2. Als bey dem Creutz Maria stund/
Weh vber Weh jhr Hertz empfund:
Vnd schmertzen vber schmertzen/
Daß gantze Leyden Christi stund/
Gedruckt in jhrem Hertzen.
3. Sie jhren sohn sah bleich vnd todt/
Vnd vberall vol Wunden roth/
Am Creutz vnschüldig hangen:
Gedenck wie dieser bitter todt/
Jhr sey zu Hertzen gangen.
4. Jn Christi Haupt durch Bein vnd Hirn.
Durch Augen/ Ohren/ schlaff vnd stirn/
Viel scharpffe Dörner stochen:
Dem Sohn die Dörner Haupt vnd Hirn/
Daß Hertz der Mutter brochen.
5. Die Nägel eingeschlagen starck/
Durch Händ vñ Füß durch Bein vñ marck/
Durch Christi tieffe wunden/
Mariæ Hertz durchtrungen starck/
Die stich hat sie empfunden.
6. Als sie das blosse Speer gesehn/
Durch Christi Hertz vnd Seiten gehn/
Empfieng sie solchen schrecken?
Als wann sie het das Speer gesehn/
Jn jhrem Hertzen stecken.
7. O Zähr/ O Bach/ O Strom/ O Meer/
O wie viel Zäher da flossen her/
So Maria vergossen?
O wie viel Zäher/ O Strom/ O Meer/
Auß jhren Augen flossen.
8. Nun bitten wir O Jungfraw rein/
Durch alle diese schmertzen dein/
Durch Christi todt vnd Leyden:
Hilff vns von Sünden machen rein/
Vnd alle Sünden meiden.
On Mary’s compassion
Oh heart, oh you distressed heart,
How great, how great is your woe and agony,
What have you suffered, you heart?
Oh sword, which went through Mary’s heart,
Cutting into it and right through it.
When Mary stood by the cross
Her heart experienced woe upon woe,
And agony upon agony:
The whole of Christ’s suffering was
Stamped into her heart.
She had to see her son pale and dead,
And covered with red wounds everywhere,
Hanging innocent on the cross.
Think how this bitter death
Must have gone into her heart!
On Christ’s head, through his bone and brain,
Through his eyes, ears, temples and forehead,
Many sharp thorns stabbed him;
The thorns broke the son’s head and brain
And they broke the mother’s heart.
The nails driven in firmly
Through his hands and feet, through bone and marrow,
Through Christ’s deep wounds
Mary’s heart was strongly penetrated,
She experienced the stab.
When she saw the bare spear
Going through Christ’s heart and side
Did she receive a similar shock
As that when she saw the spear
Piercing her own heart?
Oh tears, oh river, oh stream, oh sea,
Oh how many tears flowed out
Pouring out from Mary?
Oh how many tears, oh stream, oh sea,
Flowed from her eyes.
Now we beg you, pure virgin,
Through all of your agonies,
Through Christ’s death and suffering:
Help to make us clean from sin
And avoid all sins.
For the original Latin Stabat mater (in a number of different versions), visit the following specialist website: https://www.stabatmater.info/latin/
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Original Spelling Vom Mitleiden Mariä. Als bei dem Kreuz Maria stand, Weh über Weh ihr Herz empfand, Und Schmerzen über Schmerzen: Das ganze Leiden Christi stand Gedruckt in ihrem Herzen. Sie ihren Sohn muß bleich und todt, Und überall von Wunden roth, Am Kreuze leiden sehen. Gedenk, wie dieser bittre Tod Zu Herzen ihr mußt' gehen! In Christi Haupt durch Bein und Hirn, Durch Augen, Ohren, durch die Stirn Viel scharfe Dornen stachen; Dem Sohn die Dornen Haupt und Hirn Das Herz der Mutter brachen.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Poetisches Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1806 von Friedrich Schlegel. Berlin. Bei Johann Friedrich Unger. 1806, pages 200-201.
Note: Schlegel published in his Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1806 a selection of 23 adaptations of early German sacred folksongs, originating from Friedrich Spee (1591-1635) and others, with the title Trutznachtigall, which was also the title of a collection of 52 sacred poems by Spee, posthumously published in 1649. The current poem is not part of Spee’s Trutznachtigall; it appeared in an earlier (anonymous) songbook attributed to Spee. Schlegel used stanzas 2 – 4 for his adaption.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 200 Erstes Bild 228 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10119488