Du fragst mich, Mädchen, was flüsternd...

Du fragst mich, Mädchen, was flüsternd der West
Vertraue den Blüthenglocken?
Warum von Zweige zu Zweig im Geäst
Die zwitschernden Vögel [sich]1 locken?
 
Warum an Knospe die Knospe sich schmiegt,
Und Wellen mit Wellen zerfließen,
Und dem Mondstrahl, der auf den Kelchen sich wiegt,
Die Violen der Nacht sich erschließen?
 
O thörichtes Fragen! Wem Wissen frommt,
Nicht kann ihm die Antwort fehlen;
Drum warte, mein Kind, bis die Liebe kommt,
Die wird dir Alles erzählen!

Translation(s): CAT ENG FRE ITA

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Gesammelte Werke des Grafen Adolf Friedrich von Schack, Erster Band, Stuttgart: Velag der J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1883, page 386

Authorship

• by Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack (1815 - 1894), "Das Geheimniß" [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Reinhold Becker (1842 - 1924), "Das Geheimniss", op. 11 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1881 [voice and piano], Dresden, Ries [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by R. Fried , "Das Geheimniss", op. 3 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1890 [voice and piano], Berlin, Raabe & Plothow [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by (Leonard Johann Heinrich) Albert Fuchs (1858 - 1910), "Das Geheimniss", op. 22 (Drei Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme und Pianofortebleitung) no. 2, published 1887 [medium voice and piano], Dresden, Hoffarth [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Julius Neugebauer , "Das Geheimniss", op. 50 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 6, published 1880 [voice and piano], Breslau, Hientzsch [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Geheimnis", JWV. 136 no. 7 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Neun Lieder, no. 7. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Max Spicker (1858 - 1912), "Das Geheimniss", op. 21 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1888 [voice and piano], Berlin, Fr. Luckhardt [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Das Geheimnis", op. 17 (Sechs Lieder von Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack) no. 3 (1885-7), published 1888 [high voice and piano], Hamburg, Rahter [ sung text checked 2 times]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le secret", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il segreto", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Il segreto

Tu mi chiedi, fanciulla, che cosa il vento di ponente
confida in un sussurro alle campanule?
Perché, di ramo in ramo, 
chiamano gli uccelli con il loro cinguettio?

Perché gemme verso altre gemme si piegano,
e onde scorrono insieme con altre onde,
e al raggio della luna, quando si culla sui loro calici,
si schiudono le viole notturne?

Che insensata domanda! A che serve saperlo,
se la risposta non potrà mancare;
perciò aspetta, bambina, fin quando arriverà l'amore,
che ti spiegherà ogni cosa.

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Authorship

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2014 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  
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• a text in German (Deutsch) by Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack (1815 - 1894), "Das Geheimniß" CAT ENG FRE
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Reinhold Becker, R. Fried, Albert Fuchs, Julius Neugebauer, Joseph Rheinberger, Max Spicker, Richard Georg Strauss. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2014-02-13.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:05:29
Line count: 12
Word count: 83