Ist es wahr? Ist es wahr?
Daß du stets dort in dem Laubgang,
An der Weinwand meiner harrst?
Und den Mondschein und die Sternlein
Auch nach mir befragst?

Ist es wahr? Sprich!
Was ich fühle, das begreift nur,
Die es mit fühlt,
Und die treu mir ewig,
Treu mir ewig, ewig bleibt.

Note: The first edition of opus 9 attributed the text to "H. Voss", but Sebastian Hensel (Fanny's son) later wrote that Felix Mendelssohn wrote both music and words on June 6, 1827. Source : Mendelssohn - 24 Songs : Medium Voice, ed. John Glenn Paton, Alfred Music Publishing, 1992.

Text Authorship:

• sometimes misattributed to Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 - 1826)
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) [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 Max Lippold (1845 - 1910), "Frage", op. 20 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Frage", op. 9 (Zwölf Lieder [nos. 7, 10, and 12 are by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel]) no. 1
      Score: IMSLP [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Pregunta", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Vraag", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Question", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Question", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 52

És veritat? És veritat?
Que tu sempre m’esperes allà,
a la glorieta prop de l’emparrat?
I que també, a la llum de la lluna i les estrelles,
els preguntes sobre mi?

És veritat? Digues!
El que jo sento només ho pot entendre
la que amb mi sent el mateix,
i la que em resta eternament fidel,
fidel per sempre, per sempre.