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Ob ich manchmal Dein gedenke? Wüßtest Du, wie [sehr]1 ich's thu', Dir auch noch die Schatten lenke Träumender Gedanken zu! Tag und Nacht, und alle Stunden,-- O [das]2 Alles sagt es nicht; Du, seitdem wir uns gefunden, [Bist's]3 allein, was aus mir spricht. Alles Andre seh' ich schweben Um mich her wie Traum und Schein. Dein [zu denken]4 ist mein Leben, Dich zu lieben ist mein Sein.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Christian Reinhold Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, Z 4131, poem 31, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach, Germany.
Note: in Jenner's song, in stanza 3, line 2, word 4 ("wie") becomes "in" in the repetition. Note: in Lang's first edition (1848), in stanza 1, line 3, word 6 ("lenke") was "lenken" and stanza 3, line 1, word 5 was "schwanken". These were corrected in the 2008 edition.
1 Jenner: "oft"2 Jenner, Lang: "dies"
3 Jenner: "Bist"
4 Lang: "gedenken"
Text Authorship:
- by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, subtitle: "9. März", written 1841 [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 Gustav Jenner (1865 - 1920), "Ob ich manchmal dein gedenke?", op. 4 (Elf Lieder für 1 hohe Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 11, published 1895 [ high voice and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Ob ich manchmal Dein gedenke", op. 27 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 3 (1841), published 1872 [ voice and piano ], Stuttgart, Ebner [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) (Harald Krebs) , copyright © 2006, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 71
Do I sometimes think of you? If you [only] knew how [much]1! Draw unto yourself even the shadows Of [my] dreaming thoughts! Day and night, and at all hours, Oh all [those words] do not express it; You alone, since we found each other, Are the substance of my utterances. I see everything else [wafting]2 About me [like]3 dreams and illusions! To think of you is my [very] life! To love you is my existence.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Jenner: "often"
2 Jenner, Lang (in the 1848 edition): "tottering"; Lang (in the 2008 edition): "wafting"
3 Jenner (when the text is repeated): "in"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs and Harald 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 Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, subtitle: "9. März", written 1841
This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 78