Warum bist du nicht hier, meine Geliebteste,
Daß mich gürte dein Arm, daß mich dein Händedruck
Labe, daß du mich pressest
An dein schlagendes Schwesterherz.

Rosa, bist du mir hold? Rosa, so hold, wie ich,
War dir keiner, und wird keiner dir wieder seyn
Von den Söhnen der Erde,
Von den Söhnen Elysiums.

Wärmer, Rosa, fürwahr, wärmer und zärtlicher
Könnte nimmer für dich schlagen mein fühlend Herz,
Hätt' Ein Schooß uns geboren,
Hätt' uns einerley Brust gesäugt.

[Matte]1 labet der Quell, Müde der Abendstern,
Irre Wandrer der Mond, Kranke das Morgenroth;
Mich erlabet, Geliebte,
Dein Umfangen am [kräftigsten]2.

Warum bist du nicht hier, meine Vertrauteste,
Daß dich gürte mein Arm, daß ich dir süßen Gruß
Lispl' und feurig dich [drücke]3
An mein schlagendes Bruderherz.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with L.T.Kosegarten's Poesieen, Neueste Auflage, Zweyter Band, Berlin 1803, pages 84-85; and with Gedichte von Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten. Zweiter Band. Leipzig, bei Ernst Martin Gräff. 1788, pages 223-224.

Note: In his early editions Kosegarten included only two (independent) poems titled An Rosa, without a subtitle, and they did not yet constitute a part of his later cycle of the four poems An Rosa.

¹ Kosegarten (1788 edition): "Lecher"
² Kosegarten (1788 edition): "labendsten"
³ Kosegarten (1788 edition): "presse"

Text Authorship:

• by Ludwig Gotthard Theobul Kosegarten (1758 - 1818), "An Rosa", subtitle: "Zweytes Lied", written 1787 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "An Rosa I", D 315 (1815), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan Rosa I", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To Rosa", copyright ©
• ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À Rosa", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "A Rosa I", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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: 20
Word count: 128

Why are you not here, my most beloved one,
So that your arms could encircle me, so that a touch of your hand could
Refresh me, so that you could press me
To your beating sisterly heart?

Rosa, are you fond of me? Rosa, noone has been as fond of you as I,
Nobody, and noone will be as fond of you again,
None of the sons of the Earth,
None of the sons of Elysium.

In truth, Rosa, it is not possible to be warmer or more affectionate,
My feeling heart couldn't beat any more warmly for you,
Even if a single womb had given birth to us,
Even if we had suckled at the same breast.

The spring refreshes the faint, the evening star refreshes the weary,
The moon lost travellers, dawn the sick;
What refreshes me, beloved,
Most strongly of all is your embrace.

Why are you not here, my most devoted one,
So that your arms could encircle me, so that with a sweet greeting to you
I could whisper and press you, burning,
To my beating brotherly heart?