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Ich habe dich Gerte getauft, weil du so schlank bist und weil mich Gott mit dir züchtigen will, und weil eine Sehnsucht in deinem [Gang]1 ist wie in schmächtigen Pappeln im April. Ich kenne dich nicht - aber eines Tages wirst du im Sturm an meine Türe klopfen, und ich werde öffnen auf [dies]2 Klopfen, und meine zuchtlose Brust wird gleichen Schlages an Deine [zuchtlosen Brüste]3 klopfen. Denn ich kenne dich - deine Augen glänzen wie Knospen, und du willst [blühen, blühen, blühen]4! und deine jungen Gedanken sprühen wie gepeitschte Sträucher an [Sturzbächen]5; und du möchtest wie ich den Stürmen Gottes trotzen oder zerbrechen!
Confirmed with Richard Dehmel, Gesammelte Werke in drei Bänden, Band 1, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1920, page 19.
1 Morý: "Gange"2 Morý: "dieses"
3 Morý: "Brüste"
4 Morý: "blüh'n, blüh'n, blüh'n"
5 Morý: "Sturzbäche"
Text Authorship:
- by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "An die Ersehnte" [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 Ján Móry (1892 - 1978), "An die Ersehnte", op. 16 (Drei Lieder) no. 2 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Verlag von Ries & Erler [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To the yearned-for one", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "À l’honorée", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2024-02-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 107
I have christened you Switch, because you are so slender and because God wishes to chastise me with you, and because there is a yearning in your walk as in delicate poplars in April. I do not know you -- but someday you shall knock at my door during a storm, and I shall open to this knocking, and with the same beat my dissolute breast shall knock upon your [dissolute breasts]1. For I know you -- your eyes gleam like buds, and you wish to blossom, blossom, blossom! and your young thoughts spark forth like whipped shrubs at the plunging brooks; and, like me, you wish to defy the storms of God or break into pieces!
1 Morý: "breasts"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "An die Ersehnte"
This text was added to the website: 2025-01-02
Line count: 15
Word count: 117