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Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen habe, In den Lichtgefilden jener Welt, Heil! der Thräne dann an meinem Grabe, Die auf hingestreute Rosen fällt. Sehnsuchtsvoll, mit hoher Ahnungswonne, Ruhig, wie der mondbeglänzte Hain, Lächelnd, wie beim Niedergang die Sonne, Harr' ich, göttliche Vollendung, dein! Eil', o eile mich empor zu flügeln, Wo sich unter mir die Welten drehn, Wo im Lebensquell sich Palmen spiegeln, Wo die Liebenden sich wiedersehn! Sklavenketten sind der Erde Leiden; Öfters, ach! zerreißt sie nur der Tod! Blumenkränzen gleichen ihre Freuden, Die ein Westhauch zu entblättern droht!
F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, page 66 (above); and with Gedichte von Friedrich Matthisson. Mannheim in der neuen Hof- und akademischen Buchhandlung. 1787, pages 12-13 (see note below).
Note: the poem was first published in Poetische Blumenlese auf das Jahr 1786. Göttingen, bey Joh. Christian Dieterich, page 218, with an additional stanza between stanzas 1 and 2; see below. In the 1787 edition, stanza 4, line 2 has "Oft, ach, öfters bricht sie nur der Tod!"
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92
When one day I reach the end I seek, In the light-filled world beyond, Hail, to the tears that fall onto my grave Covered with roses! Full of yearning, with great anticipation, Calm, as the moonlit grove, Smiling, as at the seeting sun, I wait for, divine fulfillment, for you! Hurry, oh hurry to lift me aloft on wings Where underneath me worlds turn, Where in the source of Life palms are mirrored, Where lovers see each other once again. Chains of slavery are the suffering of the earth, Now and then, ah! they break only in death! Floral wreaths are like your joy, A western wind threatens strip them!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslations of titles:
"Die Vollendung" = "Fulfillment"
"Vollendung" = "Fulfillment"
"Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen" = "When one day I reach the end I seek"
Notes
Stanza 3, line 3: "source" here refers to a spring that provides water.
Stanza 4, line 2: for the 1787 edition of Matthisson, a translation of "Oft, ach, öfters bricht sie nur der Tod!" would be "Often, ah, most often they break only in death!"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 111