Es stand eine rothe Rose
Gar duftig am grünen Rain.
Ich wollte die Rose brechen,
Da thäten die Dornen mich stechen,
[Wohl bis]1 in das Herz hinein.

Da bin ich hinausgezogen,
Gewandert [Land aus, Land ein]2,
Das [thät mich gar wenig]3 frommen,
[Bin wieder nach Hause gekommen,
Konnt']4 ohne die Rose nicht sein.

Doch ach, ich fand sie [begraben
Tief unter dem]5 grünen Rain.
Es klagten die Blätter der Linde,
Sanft flüsternd im Abendwinde:
Wirst nimmermehr fröhlich sein!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Claire von Glümer, "Die Gräfin Kosel" [novella], in: 15. Unterhaltungs-Blatt zum Nürnberger Anzeiger (16. April 1871), page 58. The poem may be an original poem by the author of the novella or it may be a quotation. Further compounding the attribution problem, von Koss's score indicates the poet as "G. v. Berneck."

¹ von Koss: "Bis tief"
² von Koss: "landaus, landein"
³ von Koss: "wollte mir nimmer"
⁴ von Koss: "Bald bin ich wieder gekommen, / Mocht' "
⁵ von Koss: "gestorben, / Begraben am"

Text Authorship:

• possibly by Claire von Glümer (1825 - 1906), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
• possibly by Karl Gustav von Berneck (1803 - 1871), no title [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 Henning Karl Adam von Koss (1855 - 1913), "Die rothe Rose", op. 13 (Fünf Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 5, published 1892 [ medium voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ludwig Stark (1831 - 1884), "Die rothe Rose", op. 46 no. 3, published 1866 [ voice and piano ], from Sommerspenden. 4 leichte Lieder, no. 3, Stuttgart, Ebner [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The red rose", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-09-28
Line count: 15
Word count: 78

A red rose grew,
Full of scent, at the green slope.
I wanted to pick the rose,
But the thorns pricked me,
All the way [into]1 my heart.

Thereupon I took myself off,
I wandered from land to land,
It did me little good,
[I]2 returned home again,
I [could not]3 exist without the rose.

But alas, I found her [buried
Deep under]4 the green slope.
The leaves of the linden tree lamented,
Whispering gently in the evening wind:
You shall be happy nevermore!