Seeing each other again
(Poet's title: Wiedersehn)
Set by Schubert:
D 855
[September 1825]
Der Frühlingssonne holdes Lächeln
Ist meiner Hoffnung Morgenrot,
Mir flüstert in des Westes Fächeln
Der Freude leises Aufgebot.
Ich komm, und über Tal und Hügel,
O süße Wonnegeberin,
Schwebt, auf des Liedes raschem Flügel,
Der Gruß der Liebe zu dir hin.
Der Gruß der Liebe von dem Treuen,
Der ohne Gegenliebe schwur,
Dir ewig Huldigung zu weihen,
Wie der allwaltenden Natur;
Der stets, wie nach dem Angelsterne
Der Schiffer, einsam blickt und lauscht,
Ob nicht zu ihm in Nacht und Ferne
Des Sternes Klang hernieder rauscht.
Heil mir! Ich atme kühnes Sehnen
Und atm’ es bald an deiner Brust,
Und saug es ein mit deinen Tönen
Im Pulsschlag namenloser Lust.
Du lächelst, wenn mein Herz, umfangen
Von deiner Näh’, dann wilder strebt,
Indes das selige Verlangen
Der Güt’ um deine Lippe schwebt.
Du liebst mich, göttlich hohes Wesen!
Du liebst mich, sanftes, zartes Weib!
Es g’nügt. Ich fühle mich genesen,
Und Lebensfüll’ an Seel’ und Leib.
Nein, noch mit dem Geschick zu hadern,
Das schnell dich wieder von mir reißt,
Verschmäht mein Blut, das durch die Adern
Mit stolzen, leichten Wellen kreist.
The beauteous smile of the spring sun
Is the dawn of my hope;
In the stirring of the west wind I can hear the whispering
Of joy’s gentle announcement.
I am coming, and over valley and hill,
Oh sweet bestower of bliss,
On the rapid wings of song may it float
Towards you – this greeting of love.
This greeting of love from someone faithful,
Who swore without being loved in return,
To dedicate everlasting homage to you,
As if to almighty nature;
Who is always on the lookout, similar to someone watching the Pole Star,
A lonely sailor watching and listening,
Wondering if during the night from afar
The sound of that star is going to come down to him.
My salvation! I sigh with keen longing,
And I shall soon sigh it on your breast,
And absorb it with your voice,
As I feel the beat of a nameless pleasure.
You will smile when my heart, embraced
By proximity to you, then struggles more wildly
While a blessed desire
For goodness floats around your lips.
You love me, you divine exalted being!
You love me, you gentle, tender woman!
That is enough. I feel that I have been cured,
And I feel the fullness of life in my soul and body.
No, there is no longer any point in challenging the fate
That so quickly tears you away from me again;
It is something scorned by the blood flowing through my veins,
Circulating with proud, light waves.
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 Boats East and West Fate, luck and lotteries Greetings Hearts Hills and mountains Hope Joy Longing and yearning Morning and morning songs Near and far Soothing and healing Songs (general) Spring (season) Stars Valleys Waves – Welle Wind Wings
Is there a tension (or even a contradiction) between the poet’s insistence that he is satisfied and grateful for the fulfilment of his hopes and his simultaneous declaration that he is filled with longing and yearning? The eagerness with which he conveys his loving greetings in stanza 1 bespeaks someone who is less that satisfied with the situation, yet in the final strophe he declares that his ‘proud, light’ blood scorns the idea of fighting against the fate which decrees that the reunited lovers will soon have to be parted again.
All of this is presumably the main point of this rather opaque text. The reader is hardly encouraged (by the odd imagery or the complex syntax) to grasp the situation immediately or to sympathise with the writer’s feelings (whatever they are).
Perhaps one way to envisage the scenario is to take the writer at face value when he reports that he swore to love with no expectation of reciprocation. The beloved is forever unattainable (perhaps because she is married) so the poet has something like the status of a Medieval troubadour. His songs in praise of his Lady pose no threat since they can only express a sublimated or spiritual desire. This is what makes him similar to the sailor who is fixated on the Pole Star. He looks and listens. He knows that the star cannot and will not move, but he longs to hear its sounds descending from afar (after all, its light is always there and accessible to him, so why not the music of the spheres too). Part of him knows that the star is not interacting with him, it is simply radiating, yet he interprets its light and its music as a declaration of mutual connection. Similarly, when he sees the beloved woman, presumably in the midst of a social occasion, he cannot help reading her glances and her utterances as a declaration of love. He knows that her appearance is the same for everyone in the room, that her voice sounds the same to the whole audience, yet he tells himself that there is enough here to reveal her love.
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Original Spelling Wiedersehen Der Frühlingssonne holdes Lächeln Ist meiner Hoffnung Morgenroth; Mir flüstert in des Westes Fächeln Der Freude leises Aufgeboth. Ich komm', und über Thal und Hügel, O süße Wonnegeberin, Schwebt, auf des Liedes raschem Flügel, Der Gruß der Liebe zu dir hin. Der Gruß der Liebe von dem Treuen, Der ohne Gegenliebe schwur, Dir ewig Huldigung zu weihen Wie der allwaltenden Natur; Der stets, wie nach dem Angelsterne Der Schiffer, einsam blickt und lauscht, Ob nicht zu ihm in Nacht und Ferne Des Sternes Klang hernieder rauscht. Heil mir! Ich athme kühnes Sehnen, Und athm' es bald an deiner Brust, Und saug' es ein mit deinen Tönen, Im Pulsschlag namenloser Lust. Du lächelst, wenn mein Herz, umfangen Von deiner Näh, dann wilder strebt, Indeß das selige Verlangen Der Güt' um deine Lippe schwebt. Du liebst mich, göttlich hohes Wesen! Du liebst mich, sanftes, zartes Weib! Es gnügt. Ich fühle mich genesen, Und Lebensfüll' an Seel' und Leib. Nein, noch mit dem Geschick zu hadern, Das schnell dich wieder von mir reißt, Verschmäht mein Blut, das durch die Adern Mit stolzen leichten Wellen kreist.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, A. W. Schlegel’s poetische Werke. Erster Theil. Neueste Auflage. Wien 1816. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 18-19, here with the title Wiedersehen; and with Gedichte von August Wilhelm Schlegel. Tübingen, in der J. G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung 1800, pages 28-29.
Note: Schubert’s song was first published, together with August Wilhelm Schlegel’s poem, as an attachment in Lebensbilder aus Oesterreich. Ein Denkbuch vaterländischer Erinnerungen unter Mitwirkung sinnverwandter Schriftsteller und Künstler zum Besten der bei dem verheerenden Brande vom 3. Mai 1842 verunglückten Familien von Steyr herausgegeben von Andreas Schumacher. Wien, 1843. Bei Tauer und Sohn. In this edition the poem was misattributed to Friedrich Schlegel, however.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 18 [26 von 206] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ204921909